Don't Underestimate Me
by Nemosmileslj
Summary: A school in the lower east side of New York becomes the center of interest for the Purple Dragons and Raphael would like to know why. The answer to that lies with the owner of the school who is a young trainer who appears to be more than capable of handling the gangsters on her own.
1. Chapter 1

It was a cold night. It had to be about a good 30-something degrees Fahrenheit. Who knew? He wasn't really good with estimating much of anything. Odds are it could be much colder than that. He just knew he was probably one of the very few out in this cold at this time of night. January has been colder than this in the past. It hasn't snowed very much this month and he kind of missed it. The first week had but one day of snow, and he remembered coming topside that day just to see it. There was something peaceful about the snow, calming, relaxing. What he needed to escape the badgering and pestering of his three other brothers. There was no fight like other times that would make him storm away from his home in a huff, there was just his desire to be out of the sewers again, and breathe in the cold air, hear the sounds of cars and enjoy the night sky. Yes, the stars were difficult to see. There were hardly any, but this was just so much better than staring up at the inside of brick and cement. Out here, Raphael could breathe.

He pulled his parka tighter around himself as he found himself a perch atop the roof of an apartment complex that offered him an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty. Well, a side view at least. He dangled his legs off the roof of the building, gazing at the monument and watched as the ferries still sailed by. He took his shell cell from his pocket and looked at the time. _8:30 PM,_ he thought to himself, _maybe it's time to head back now._ Raphael was used to staying out longer and later than this, however, he was having such a peaceful night that he just didn't want to ruin it by going home to his older brother, Leonardo, and listen to another one of his lectures about going topside on his own. Raphael and his brothers were turtles. They were mutated when they were much younger and smaller and now they possessed humanlike qualities. However, most humans wouldn't see the glass half full like he would hope. He knew that, but sometimes he felt like Leonardo thought he didn't know that and his older brother would chastise him for his visits to the topside, out of the sewers. So he just wasn't in the mood to fight today. A few more minutes and he would go home.

"Thank you teacher!"

Raphael looked down towards the smaller building next to him, bringing his legs back over the side of the roof and lowering his head just slightly to be able to peer over the wall. A young boy, about eight, was leaving the building holding the hand of a woman who had to be his mother. The woman he was speaking to stepped out from the doorway of the building, smiling at him and his mother, slight worry on her face.

"De nada Angel," she smiled down at the boy, caressed his face and then turned to look at his mother, "Señora, por favor déjame escoltarte a casa?"

Raphael found himself squinting at the exchange. Damn it all… he couldn't speak or understand Spanish.

The older woman smiled and held up her hand, obviously rejecting the younger woman's offer, "Muchas gracias, pero vivimos muy cerca, en ninguna parte cerca de su dirección. Creo que usted necesita para llegar a casa con seguridad también."

The younger woman's eyebrows furrowed with concern, "No es problema Señora. Por favor-"

The older woman held up her hand again, "Estaremos bien, querida. Gracias. No tienes idea de lo mucho que esto significa para nosotros. Lo que enseñas a nuestros pequeños, hace mucho por ellos. Por favor, vuelve a casa a salvo."

The younger woman smiled at the older woman, "Of course, Ms. Lopez. Angel, take care of your mom. Be safe. Remember what I taught you." She playfully pulled the beanie down over the young boy's eyes and he giggled, pulling it back.

"Yes Ms. Samantha. I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you. Get home safe like mom says. Bye."

Ms. Samantha waved them a goodbye, stepping out onto the sidewalk in nothing but a long-sleeved trainer shirt, burgundy shorts with black leggings and funny looking tennis shoes, to watch them disappear around the corner. The light coming from the inside of the building now illuminated her face well. She was a young girl, possibly no older than Raphael, who knew? He wasn't very good at telling age, no less a human's. What he could tell, however, was that she was very pretty. She was Latina, no doubt, with her skin not as dark as most, yet her skin was not light enough for her to be Caucasian. She was probably best described as olive skinned. Her eyes were large, brown and bright. They were so soft, Raphael thought for a second that he could almost get lost in them. They weren't that gorgeous… just that they were so deep and thoughtful, he could almost get lost in there just to find out what she was thinking. Her lips were pink, full and shapely and her nose was small and round as were her cheeks which were rosy from the cold. Her dark, brown hair hung loosely about her shoulders in big, thick curls and she brushed it back with her hand as it attempted to sit in her eyes. . As soon as the boy and his mother were well out of sight, the smile disappeared from her face and she became very serious. She hugged herself tightly to shield herself from the cold and retreated into the building.

 _Where are you going_? Raphael wondered to himself, watching amused as the girl who apparently made every attempt to help the young boy and his mother get home, was now taking her sweet time leaving the building. Raphael pulled his shell cell out from his pocket again. _9 PM._ _Geez lady, want to take any longer leaving? I need to go home too._ Raphael frowned. Yes, he was a tough guy, but he had his soft spots and he felt, at this point, that he was now responsible to see this young girl home. So he waited.

Not ten minutes later, he heard the sound of the door open on the side of the small building in the alley separating the one he was perched upon. The young girl emerged from the side door, now with a long, black trench coat, a white knit beanie upon her head, blue jeans and black winter boots. She carried a gym bag over shoulder and pulled the keys from her pocket to lock the door. An audible _click_ was heard and she yanked on the door to be sure that it was shut tight. Satisfied that it was secure, much to Raphael's annoyance, she turned and headed into the alley rather than take the streets and sidewalks home. Now, Raphael absolutely had to follow her. What if she got jumped? He started to make his way across the rooftop and anticipate her next turn in the alley when she was halted. _Damn it,_ Raphael thought, _not even one alley down and already?_ He instinctively raised his hands at the ready for his sai. The young girl stopped, but the look on her face was not one of fear. It was more like annoyance and it almost shocked Raphael as the man who stepped in front of her was rather large and wore a smug, intimidating look on his face. He bore a tattoo on his neck in the shape of a purple dragon, he wore a long, black coat, a grey shirt, black pants and dark shades.

 _What the shell? What are the Purple Dragons doing here?_ Raphael narrowed his eyes. _What could they possibly want with her?_

"I see that your boss couldn't grace me with his presence today, hm? Sent some weirdo wearing shades at night. I'd rather not waste my time. I'm cold, tired and hungry. I will tell you what I told him." She paused for a second and took a deep breath, "My answer is still, and will always be, no." She stood erect, holding her head eye and she attempted to look down at a man who was obviously much taller than her. He was at least a foot taller.

The man chuckled, "Mamacita, mamacita… My boss would have loved to have been here to see if he could once more attempt to persuade you himself but he had other pressing matters to attend to. He felt it sufficient to send only myself to… handle the transaction." He took a step forward and stopped when he realized she did not back away. She continued to hold her ground.

"There will be no transaction. I-"

"Before you say no again, please hear me out. The boss considers your business to be a noble one." He smiled and placed his hands on his sides, "He understands that you have young ones to protect and he just wants to help. Half of whatever you profit to protect the lives of those who need protecting, yourself and your bus-"

"No! You will not get a dime from me. Pedazos de mierda. Picking on me… I may be poor… but I am not weak!" She grit her teeth, and balled her hands into fist. Raphael could swear he saw a vein pulsing in her neck.

"Temper temper! Careful, you're actually kind of cute when you're angry. You wouldn't want to get me excited now, would you?" He licked his lips and laughed. "I didn't think the boss would have to offer this second option to get you to bend but you're tough. I like it….," he paused and studied her with piercing, dark eyes, "We will buy the school from you… money in your pocket. We will keep your establishment open… the kids will still have a place to go… and many things to learn. Our own teachers we will supply. You will never have to teach another snot-nosed kid again-"

"Puta madre! That's it… my patience is through!" Samantha's eyes sparked with rage and she tossed her gym bag towards the wall of the alley, "You will not have my school… and you will not have my children. You will have nothing more from me. Come on now!" She raised her fists in front of her face, elbows tucked in and lowered her chin. She stepped with her left foot forward and her right slightly behind. "Fight me."

 _Is she out of her mind?_ Raphael crouched lower, hands on his sai and ready to pounce. _Is she seriously challenging a Purple Dragon? What the shell do they want with her anyway?_

The man laughed and began to step towards her, placing his hands in his pockets, "Look sweetheart, you're cute and all but I really don't want to-"

He stepped too close. As he was but a few inches away from coming into contact with Samantha, she jabbed him, painfully… in the nose. Raphael nearly fell from his perch. She was surely in for it now.

The Purple Dragon grabbed at his nose, blood spilling from his nostrils and onto the cold pavement, "Joo lil' bit! I'll kill joo!"

Raphael began to leap down from the building but grasped at the ledge quickly again and climbed back up. It was clear now Samantha did not need his help. The Dragon had let his guard down, not anticipating the flurry of hooks, crosses and uppercuts to his gut, chest and face. It was clear that Samantha was very skilled as the wind left the Dragon's body. He staggered backward away from Samantha's fists, dazed. There was no escaping her fury. Samantha paused, her face wild with anger, "My final answer is no. I won't let any of you… any number of you push me around!" With all the force of her tiny body springing up from her semi-crouched position, she uppercut the purple dragon, square in his chin, a sickening _crunch_ sound resonated through the alley as she made contact with his face. He must have gone up a foot in the air before landing on his back in front of her. Raphael stood there, his mouth agape at what he just saw. That tiny thing, this… possibly 5 foot-something tall creature, maybe a hundred and twenty pounds… took down a Purple Dragon, maybe half her size. Samantha readjusted her beanie on her head and retrieved her gym bag. As she stepped past the Purple Dragon who now lay unconscious on the floor, she looked back at her bleeding masterpiece on the cement and scoffed, "Thanks for the workout. I'm tired… I'm going home." With that, she turned down the alley and walked off.

 _No, that can't be it._ Raphael shook himself from his amazement and began to follow her down the alley. _They had to have known what she was like. No way had that come from out of nowhere. There's got to be more in ambush somewhere._

Raphael jumped from one rooftop to another, being careful not to make noise as he followed her to her dingy, little apartment. There had to be some fear in her that would cause her to look back over shoulder every once in a while, making sure she wasn't followed, but no. She did not look back once and showed no feeling of fear in her face whatsoever. She climbed the steps of her small apartment building, opened the door and stepped inside. Still not convinced that she wasn't being followed, Raphael waited perched on a fire escape on the next building over. He waited for a scream, the shattering of glass, or something. Nothing. Not one noise. He climbed the fire escape and leapt for the ledge of the apartment building. He climbed on to the roof and across the other side to jump to the next building over. He kept climbing down the fire escape, looking across to every window until he saw her and stopped at the fire escape across her apartment, making sure to blend into the shadows. She had entered her apartment, placed her gym bag in the corner of her room and tossed her jacket and beanie on a chair beside her door.

The room was very small with nothing but a small kitchen and living space present. Her bathroom must have been that little hole in the wall near her entrance door. She walked into her kitchen and grabbed herself a bottle of water from her near vacant fridge. Why Raphael was still there, he didn't know anymore. There was just some part of him that felt the Purple Dragons would show up any second now. Maybe jump out of her closet or something? No, that was ridiculous. But he couldn't help it. Just what exactly happened all but an hour ago? He kept watching her, until his conscience told him to turn away as she began to strip herself of her clothes and walk over to the door on the far right of the apartment completely naked, opening it to reveal the bathroom and step into her tiny shower. Once he heard her pull the curtain closed, Raphael began to watch again and looked all around the building and down the streets. He couldn't believe it. No one followed her.

 _If they didn't know what she was like, what the shell were these purple scum doing with the likes of her,_ Raphael though, he just had to know. It was almost killing him. _What do they want with some school?_

Samantha emerged from the shower, wrapped in a towel and her head wrapped with a towel as well. She was still pretty. She pulled a tank top from an old, brown dresser in the room and dropped the towel, making Raphael instinctively jerk his head away from looking. He gave her a few minutes before turning back around to see she had dressed in pajama bottoms and a tank top. He continued to wait and not too long after dressing she kneeled beside her bed and began to pray. Raphael rolled his eyes. Once she finished praying, she did the sign of the cross, crawled into bed and finally turned out the lights. Raphael sat down on the steps of the fire escape in waiting. Still nothing. For the last time that night, Raphael pulled out his shell cell and checked the time. Three missed calls from Leonardo. He groaned. Of course there would be. It was going on midnight after all. He gave one last look towards the apartment. There was still silence. No cause for concern. He sighed and decided that this would probably have to be looked into again tomorrow. He hesitantly dialed Leonardo on his shell cell and jump down into the nearest alley from his fire escape perch. He sought out the nearest manhole and as he lifted the cover, His brother answered the cell from the other side.

"Raph? Where are you? I called three times. It's nearly midnight. Splinter-"Leonardo started on the phone, his voice stern.

"Yeah, yeah. Spare me the lecture, Splinter Jr. I'm on my way back, I know what time it is." He looked back up at the apartment before making his way down the manhole.

"Listen Raph, Splinter ordered us directly to stay out of the streets and if you…," Leo's voice droned on and on as far as Raphael could tell and he eventually decided to just "accidentally" hang the shell cell up.

So much for going home and not getting into a fight. Now he just needed to decide if he should tell his brothers what happened tonight. Raphael pondered that on his long walk back to the sewer lair.


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of metal clanging together vibrated throughout the lair. Along with the grunts and groans of physical exertion. It was six in the morning and the four turtles were already training with their master. Raphael and his brother, Donatello, were paired in a match, the primary goal being to render the other defenseless by relieving the other of their weapon. Being that Donatello had a longer range with his bo staff than Raphael had with his twin sai, this gave Donatello an advantage against his hot-headed brother. The quick _swish_ sound of Donatello's bo staff was heard as he leapt into the air and attempted to bring the staff down upon Raphael's head. Throwing his hands above his head with his rapid reflexes, Raphael managed to stop the staff from colliding with his skull with his sai, catching it between the three prongs. Raphael smirked, using his sai to pull his brother with his staff and launching a swift side kick in the center of his chest, knocking the wind out of his brother and causing him to lose his grip on his staff as he tumbled backwards. The odds were against Raphael and that's just how he liked them. He helped Donatello up by his hand and they both bowed to each other. Raphael handed Donatello his staff back and assisted his brother off the mat as Donatello was still attempting to catch his breath.

"Ya good Donnie?" Raphael asked as he helped Donatello sit against the wall.

Donatello breathed in and out slowly and deeply, "Yeah, I'm good. Nice kick. Should have seen that one coming."

Raphael smirked, "Maybe ya'll get it next time." He turned away from Donatello and kneeled next to him, facing the mat as Master Splinter called for Leonardo and Michelangelo to take their place on the mat next.

The routine remained the same after all these years, even at the age of 21, the turtle awoke every day at six in the morning, trained until eight in the morning, meditate for at least 30 minutes (or at least until Mikey's short attention span would allow them too), ate breakfast, finish their chores of the day and then they were free to go about their day. Donatello, the purple bandana clad brother, would disappear into his lab to work on whatever experiment or make necessary updates to their security system or lair. Michelangelo, their youngest, orange bandana clad brother, would…well… be Michelangelo. He would either disappear into his room with his comic books, play video games or go skateboarding on the half pipe he pestered Donatello into helping him make. Leonardo, the oldest and blue bandana clad brother, would return to the dojo for further training or disappear with Master Splinter to meditate. Raphael would also, most times, continue to train in the dojo, lifting weights, or sometimes spar with Leonardo. However, Raphael was also restless at times. He would like to work on his motorcycle, his baby, or go and hang out with his friend, Casey Jones, if he wasn't too busy helping his fiancé, April O'Neil, with their business of discovering and selling rare artifacts. Today, Raphael found something that took his interest rather than his usual activities.

" _Oof!"_ Michelangelo took a flying kick from behind. As he fell forward, his hand holding his nunchakus flew out in front of him and, with scary precision, Leonardo flung one of his katana through the air and managed to tear the nunchakus from Michelangelo's hand and pin them against the far wall. Michelangelo turned around onto his butt to face his brother, sticking his tongue out, "Show off!"

"Michelangelo!" Master Splinter stepped onto the mat and narrowed his eyes down at this youngest son. "You fought with honor, you must also accept defeat with honor. Do not forget that. Face your opponent."

Michelangelo stood up and faced Leonardo, still pouting and bowed his head deeply as Leonardo also bowed with a most serious expression on his face. Raphael frowned as the other two took their place kneeling beside him and Donatello. Leonardo always to have some kind of flashy move when it came to their training. It still never failed to bug Raphael in the least when it came to Leonardo's apparent need to outshine them all whenever it came to anything they did.

"Couldn't help yourself, huh Fearless?" Raphael muttered to Leonardo under his breath.

Leonardo ignored Raphael, facing Master Splinter, "Master."

Master Splinter sat on the floor in front of them, cross legged, setting his staff beside him and placing his hands, palm up, on each knee, "You have done excellent today my sons. Let us all meditate and reflect on today's training."

Not even ten minutes later, the turtles were all released from their session as Michelangelo decided to be particularly even more annoying and impatient that day. They all went and had their breakfast before dispersing to do their chores. Much to Raphael's annoyance, he had bathroom duty that day and cleaning the shower and toilet was not his favorite thing to do after all the twenty year olds have used the restroom. Once the lair was spotless, like anticipated, Donatello disappeared into his lab, Leonardo walked off to Master Splinter's to join him in his meditation and Michelangelo ran off to skate on his half pipe. Raphael went to the garage to work on his bike for a few hours, looking at the clock to make sure he'd be out before dinner time, so he would not get stuck having to have dinner with the family before he could investigate what he needed to that day. After a few hours of tune ups and waxing, Raphael made his way back to the lair. Donatello had already made his way into the kitchen. It had to be about 5 PM now. Today was Donatello's turn to take care of dinner, so Raphael did not have to be there to cook. Raphael walked over to the exit of their lair, grabbed his parka from rack by the entrance and called out behind him, knowing well that no one was really paying attention, "I'll be over at Casey's! I might not be back in time for dinner!" No answer. Raphael smirked and walked out of the lair.

Last night, Raphael witnessed a bizarre event. While perched atop a building in lower east New York, a member of the Purple Dragons attempted to hustle a young school teacher. For what? Raphael still didn't quite understand but hoped to find out more today. He made his way through a maze of tunnels, having grown up in the sewers all his life, he knew his way around like the back of his hand. Soon he was climbing up the ladder to the manhole and took care to lift the cover slowly, allowing himself to scan the area before emerging from the sewer. It was already dark. He loved that about winter. He could go out earlier and not worry about being seen. He pulled the parka around himself and pulled the beanie out from its pocket, placing it on his head. As he began to walk to the alley next to the small, rundown building from last night, he pulled the hood of the parka over his head and zipped it up to his chin. He put his hands in the pockets of his parka and went around the back of the building to see if there may be a window away from the street that he could look into.

With luck, Raphael spotted tiny, narrow windows at near the top of the wall of the building. Beneath the window was a garbage dumpster. Raphael jumped on top, careful not to make noise and peered inside. Even though what he saw inside slowly started to make the event from last night make sense, it still shocked him. What he saw were at least a dozen kids ranging from very young ages of six to seventeen or eighteen and they were all boxing. The smaller children were working with another older student, practicing their stances and punches. The older ones were jump roping, lifting weights, punching bags, running laps or shadow boxing. Raphael scanned the whole room. It was a gym. In the center of that gym, he spotted her. Ms. Samantha stood in the center ring with two young boys who had to be in their teens. Her hair was in a long braid behind her this time and she wore a black tank top with grey sweatpants. She watched the two boys throw punches at each other, intervening every so often to correct their stance or the way they jabbed at each other. This school was much more different than what he had thought it to be last night. However, now he saw exactly where Ms. Samantha had gotten her skills from.

Raphael climbed down from the dumpster, quite satisfied with the new information he had discovered. However, now he just needed to know why the Purple Dragons wanted anything to do with this place. This building was nowhere near the side of New York City in which there was anything nearby worth being near. So location was out as a potential need for possession. From the appearance of Ms. Samantha's apartment last night, she was not a rich woman, so financial gain was also out. People? No, that was definitely out. Most people on this side of the city were socially trapped in this city. The idea of them having anything worth taking for the purple scum was not feasible. Just what is it about this building? Raphael pulled out his shell cell. If anyone would know, it's Casey.

Raphael dialed Casey's number and listen to it as it rang a few times, "C'mon Casey, ya better not be nappin' at this time."

After a few more rings, Casey's voice answered on the other line, "Hello? Raph? Hey, what's up man? Haven't heard from you in a while. How have you been?"

Raphael smiled, "Hey Case. 'M good. Hey, I need some info. Thought ya could help."

"Nice. Thought you called just to say 'Hello' and catch up. Good to know you just needed something from me," Casey stated, sounding notably annoyed, "Shoot then, Raph. I'm listening."

Raphael walked over to a darker area of the alley, taking care to keep his eyes peeled for anyone that might just happen to pass him by, "What do ya know about some little, dingy boxing gym that's like… in the fucking Bronx of New York? Ghetto area? The gym's owner is this young, latin girl…."

"Oh! That's Samantha! She's a fox." Casey paused abruptly and began again in a low whisper, "April's home sorry. But yeah, she's pretty attractive." Casey cleared his throat and began speaking in his normal volume again, "She owns the gym and she's pretty young. Dad left it to her when she was 18. I heard of her when I was still roaming the streets. Pops passed away when she was younger. She kept the gym. She's really cool. Donates her time teaching the youth boxing. Keeps them out of trouble. April actually helped her out not too long ago with some donations to get some equipment for her."

"Really? That's…," Raphael paused. That didn't make sense to him. What did the Purple Dragons want with this place? Want with Samantha?

"Raph?"

Raphael jumped back to the phone, "Ok Case. Thanks a lot. I gotta go. Tell April I said 'Hey'"

"Raph, what's going on-?"

Raphael quickly hung up the cell and put it back in his pocket. The whole situation was strange to him. What could they possibly want with this gym, it's people or its owner?

 _Whatever it is they want,_ Raphael thought to himself, _Purple Dragons don't give up easily. Last night, she messed with the wrong people. They won't make that same mistake tonight twice._ With that, he made up his mind to wait until she decided to go home for the night.

Around 7:30 PM, the students were released to their families with a few stragglers left behind. Raphael felt it safe now that it was even darker, to take a spot in the shadows of an alley across the street from the gym to be able to see through the giant, glass windows in the front of the brick building. The children who were left behind, Angel included from the night before, sat with Samantha in the boxing ring and read or did their homework with her assistance. Samantha was so friendly. She sat there patient on the floor of the ring with her three students, laughing and helping them with their homework. A bright smile spread across her face, making a small dimple appear on her cheek.

Raphael swallowed thickly, thinking to himself, _she's too fucking cute._

At almost the same time last night, the last straggler left home and Raphael decided to cross the street and climbed the fire escape of the building next to the gym, knowing that Samantha would exit through the door in the alley. He eyed the door and just as he heard the door open for Samantha to step outside, he heard footsteps in the alley.

 _One, two, four, six… eight guys? For one girl? This guy is ridiculous. Musta hurt his pride real bad last night._ Raphael counted eight Purple Dragon thugs step out from the shadows of the alley just as Samantha turned the lock and shut the door.

Samantha turned to walk down the alley and stopped mid-step. She looked shocked but immediately became stone faced. She narrowed her eyes at the group before, scanning them all. She smiled at the man who was at the forefront of the group. This man had a wide bandage across his nose and was sporting multiple bruises and a black eye. This was obviously the man who had his ass handed to him last night. Obviously… he wasn't very happy.

Samantha smiled at him, flipping her long braid over shoulder, "Oh my, I remember you. Pobresito. Is it really bro-?"

"Joo stooped bith!" The man spat, "We are offering you one lath chanceth!"

Samantha laughed, "One last what? I'm sorry, I don't quite understand."

"Shud it! Gib up thith gym, an' we will leth you go!" He pointed at the men behind him, the goons already had knives, pipes and bats with them at the ready to strike.

 _Cowards…,_ Raphael thought, hands on his sai again for the second night in a row. He watched as Samantha once again grew serious and waited for her to make her move.

Samantha took a deep breath and raised her head high again, looking down at the group before me, "You will not take my gym… and you will not take me." Once again, she assumed her stance. "Bring it on!"

Just as she shouted her words, the men charged at her and she flung her gym bag at the man from the night before, hitting him again squarely in his house, gaining a cry of pain from him. The men charging at her stopped as they watched as she quickly closed the distance between herself and their leader and delivered a devastating blow that sent him flying back in their direction. He landed back against the trash cans in the alley, unconscious again. She glared at the group and motioned for them to come forward with a look that was as cold as ice. "Bring it on!"

Raphael watched, fascinated as the Purple Dragons hesitated to charge at her again. _She's fucking crazy,_ he thought to himself, amused as she fell another brute.

It wasn't long, however, before it became apparent that Samantha was not only skilled as a boxer but she was also a skilled kickboxer, bringing a goon down into contact face first to the cement with an axe kick. But it was also apparent that she was only very skilled in one-on-one combat. The numbers began to overwhelm her, and she began to take blows in the sides from bats and pipes. Suddenly, a goon managed their way behind her and struck her in the back of the head with a pipe, bringing her to the ground, face first, barely conscious. Raphael felt rage boil in his belly as the goons began to laugh darkly while she tried to get back on her feet. A goon hit her again in the back, bringing her down again and helped flip her onto her back, holding her down as she struggled. A second goon crouched down in front of her, holding her legs and suddenly their leader, who was conscious again, missing a tooth and wiping his bleeding mouth, came to stand over them.

"I told joo, joo lil' bith," he spat his blood on her face and then turned to the goon kneeling in front of her who was already removing her pants, "Not so tuff dow? Moob idiot! Dis is mine." He kneeled in front of Samantha, unbuckling his pants.

"No! No! Let me go you son of a bitch!" Samantha screamed at the top of her lungs. A third Purple Dragon clamped his hand over her mouth and looked at his leader

The leader nodded his head and the goon smiled and began to unbuckle his pants as well, "I'll keep that mouth busy."

Samantha struggled, screaming internally, _I'm going to be raped… help… someone help me!_ Just as she thought that all hope was lost, a figure jumped on top of the goon who was making their way between her legs and gave him a roundhouse kick to the head, knocking him away from her. Samantha watched with fear as the shadowy figure began to make quick work of the goons around, _What is that?!_

To be Continued


	3. Chapter 3

It could have been that she was still dazed from the blow to her head that made it hard for her to see what was going on around her. The man who had be holding her down by the arms two minutes ago was now lying next to her, unconscious. As soon as she was released, Samantha crawled along the pavement looking for her gym bag, reaching blindly as it had suddenly gotten very dark in the alley. No light from the street reached them. The sounds of blows and groans of pain rang in her ears as she felt the strap of her bag beneath her fingers. She pulled her bag to her body and hugged it tightly as she sat back on her butt and backed herself away from the fighting until she felt the wall against her back. The shadow of a very large man managed to launch a much smaller man at the wall next to her. She looked down at the man beside her, his head bloody from the impact with the wall. _A Purple Dragon…,_ Samantha thought to herself, now finding herself very nervous as to who or what it was that was beating the sense out of these thugs that she couldn't manage on her own.

Raphael felt the air being sliced by the swing of a baseball bat by his knees, he jumped above the swing and thrust the blunt end of his said forward, between the eyes of the thug who swung at him. Fire raged in his belly as he continued to swing his sai at the men who kept lunging at him, swinging their bats and knives blindly. The cowards ambushed a young girl on her way home from work and attempted to rape her, it was disgusting. He listened as the sound of a desperate thug lunged at him head first and Raphael dodged, doing a front flip and kicking him in the back, he heard the sound of the dumpster 'clang' as the thug likely managed to get himself knocked out by hitting it head first. The sound of nervous breathing hung slightly behind Raphael and he turned around to face the last Purple Dragon. His green, piercing eyes met nervous blue. The 'clink' as the knife was dropped from the thug's hand was the only other sound heard aside from his shaky breaths. Raphael smirked, "Good choice." He grabbed the man by the shoulders and thrust his knee upward into his core, the breath leaving the man as he fell forward, completely unconscious.

Raphael stood in silence for a moment, listening for the sounds of any of these men daring got get up and move again. He sighed and holstered his weapons. The Purple Dragon scum had caused him to lose it when they chose to attack and attempt to rape an unarmed girl. His head snapped forward as he remembered that Samantha was likely still there, not wanting to move. The sound of her light breathing reach him and he turned in her direction, spotting the shadow of someone sitting on the floor very still. He couldn't just very well leave her there now. Especially not with the blow to her head. As he approached the shadow slowly, her breathing became shallower and shallower as if she was attempting to become blended in with the darkness. He was finally able to make her out somewhat as she sat holding her breath, clutching her bag to her chest with white knuckles. He began to kneel down next to her slowly and her face turned into nervous anger, "Stay back! I'm warning you."

Raphael continued to slowly get closer to her despite her warnings, "Relax… I'm not here to hurt you-." His face suddenly felt like it was on fire and it was harder for him to breath. The taste in his mouth was like death. He let out an angry cry, "WHAT THE FUCK?!" He fell over, rubbing his face furiously.

Samantha had quickly pulled pepper spray from her bag and managed to administer a "healthy dose" in Raphael's unsuspecting face, "I warned you not to come… near me?" She finally got a good look at the Kelly green creature with three fingers and a large… shell? On his back. _He's a turtle?_ Samantha thought to herself as she felt the room begin to spin, she tried desperately to resist the urge to faint but darkness overcame her quickly as she felt herself hit the pavement.

"Hey! Wake up! You! Where's your washroom?"

Samantha's eyes fluttered open as she awoke to the big, turtle-like creature shaking her by the shoulders. She looked around rapidly as she noticed he had managed to somehow get her inside the gym. She closed her eyes quickly, feeling herself panic when she looked at Raphael again. "It's that way!" She pointed across the gym to their far right and Raphael made a mad dash for it.

Raphael ran off, shouting behind himself, "Don't you go to sleep again with that bump on your melon!"

Raphael turned on the faucet in the small bathroom, ripping his mask off and splashing water in his eyes. He madly scrubbed his face with as much water as possible, the burning in his eyes making him want to cry. There really were no words to describe the pain he felt. He gargled the cool water, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. Once he felt that the scrubbing had alleviated as much of the pain as it possibly could he began to scrub down his mask which was still covered in spray. He looked in the mirror at his puffy, swollen eyes. He really tried to calm himself down now, it wouldn't help to be angry while checking on Samantha and risk getting another dose of pepper spray. He walked out of the washroom with his mask in his hand and was stunned to see that Samantha had not moved from her spot on the floor where he left her. She had her knees pulled to her chest and was scratching her head nervously. Raphael approached her slowly, not looking forward to getting sprayed again and stopped when he was two feet away from her. He sat down slowly across from her and stayed silent, waiting for her to acknowledge him. She sat there with her head buried in her knees for at least two minutes, silent. Raphael felt himself beginning to get impatient, opening his mouth to speak when she began to move, making him jolt backward.

She slowly lifted her head, her eyes shut tightly and breathing slowly, "I… hit my head. I must have messed something up. I'm sure of it." She rubbed her temples and opened her eyes slowly, looking softly at Raphael, "You're… a turtle?"

Raphael stared at her for a second, then gave her a sardonic smile, "You're pretty good. People usually say lizards or frogs or somethin'." He scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little uneasy now that Samantha was looking him up and down. "Sorry to disappoint ya. This is all real. Even that bump on your noggin'."

"My head…," She touched the back of her head gingerly, wincing as she felt the oversized notch on the back of her head.

"Yeah. So ya probably shouldn't get up right- or ya can do whatever ya want. What the hell do I know?" Raphael shook his head as Samantha got up slowly, using the wall for support, clearly aching in her body from bruises they hadn't noticed yet.

She slowly walked up to Raphael, to his amusement, as if she was trying not to scare him off. She reached out a hand when she got close enough, "I'm sorry for this but I… I have to… for me… Can I?"

Raphael raised a hand to stop her and Samantha pulled it back nervously. He stared into those big, brown eyes that were so full of concern, lowered his hand and leaned forward slightly, "Go ahead. I won't mace you."

Samantha blushed and frowned, "Sorry. I didn't know…what to do." She placed her hand on his face gently, "Oh my God… you're real."

He felt his face get warm as she stared at him, deep in thought, touching his cheek. He felt so lost in her eyes, he hadn't noticed that she moved to his chest. He quickly grabbed her hand to stop her, "That's enough, yeah I'm a real boy. Not getting any farther than that without buying me a drink first."

Embarrassed, Samantha withdrew her hand quickly and crossed her arms, "I'm sorry. I just needed to be sure." She left her arms fall to her side, "I'm Samantha… Samantha Rodriguez… Do you have a name?"

Raphael looked shocked at her. He thought he would have to push her into talking a little, "I'm… Raphael."

She smiled at him warmly, making her dimple on her cheek more prominent and almost making Raphael melt, "Thank you, Raphael. For… helping me out there… I think? Is that what…? What were you doing out-?"

Raphael shook himself from his daze and stopped her, "Hold on. I gave plenty of answer and satisfied a lot of requests. I saw the whole thing out there. How about ya answer some of my questions? Like, why those Purple losers were here messin' with ya in the first place?"

Samantha looked shocked at first, "You… the Purple Dragons…how?" She started to ask but Raphael furrowed his brow at her and she frowned, "I've been dealing with them for years…"

Raphael sighed and pulled out his shell cell, at which, Samantha stared at strangely, "It's a phone. Hold that thought." He dialed Casey, Samantha waiting silently next to him. "Hey Case… Yeah, hold on. Look… I need another favor… Get over it man. Listen, if any of my brothers call, just tell 'em I crashed at your place. I'll explain later. Just do this for me. Alright, bye." He hung up and couldn't help but smirk as Samantha sat there staring at him in awe.

"Your b-brothers? There's m-more of…," Samantha stuttered.

"Three more turtles. Don't worry… my dad's a rat" Raphael almost couldn't contain his laughter as Samantha started to hit her head with an open palm. "Ok… how exactly have you been dealing with them?"

Samantha looked up at him again, a serious look on her face, "My dad passed away when I was 17, my brother fell in with the this Purple Dragon gang when I was smaller and got himself killed in a robbery. Dad couldn't handle it and got sick. So I'm all alone now. Mom was also killed when she was pregnant with me by some kid who just wasn't making the right choices. So when my dad left me this gym, I kept it up and running, helping the kids of this troubled neighborhood learn discipline, keep them out of trouble and make sure they know how to protect themselves… become strong. Those guys saw the small business I was making. I have a lot of kids here so they thought I was making money and decided to try to punk me out of it. First..," Samantha cracked her knuckles, "I'm not the type to be easily scared… second… most of these kids I have come from poor families. I'm not in it for the money… I help these poor families make sure they don't go through what I did as a kid. I don't make a lot from this business. So when money wasn't something they could get from me… they thought they could have me train these vulnerable kids just for them. This is the exact population they target. Kids who come from poor families… from parents who struggle to make sure their kids stay out of trouble. It's perfect for them, I train their next batch of thugs for them. But I won't them take them from me." Samantha's eyes fell and she hugged her knees, "My dad worked so hard all the time, training my brother and me to be strong, supporting us… he didn't notice what my brother was becoming. He didn't notice this gang poisoning his mind… and now I have no one. I won't let that happen to these families." She looked at the ring in the middle of the gym, deep in thought.

Raphael felt a sense of respect for this girl. Samantha was very young and had nobody to owe anything to. However, she chose to take care of these kids and these families. Her desire to protect these people was greater than her duty to protect herself. For a while she sat there in silence, staring at the ring. Not one of them spoke. He stared at her rosy cheeks and her deep, brown eyes, finding it difficult to stop staring. This girl was someone he could really respect. He checked the time on his phone. It was almost midnight and he still had to get to Casey's.

"Listen Samantha…," Raphael started and she turned to look at him right in the eye and he felt his heart skip a beat.

She smiled, "Call me Sam, Raphael."

Raphael couldn't help but smile back, "Call me Raph. Listen… I need to be heading out. But I want to make sure you get home safe and that that bump on your head is ok."

Sam frowned, "My head is fine. " She stood up and grabbed her bag, "And normally I don't need anyone walking me home… but seeing as I just had my ass handed to me… I guess I'll let you walk me home." She smiled and walked over to the door, walking out and holding it open for him, "Plus… I think you have a lot more of my questions to answer on the way there… like… how did you learn to fight that way for example?"

Raph scoffed, putting his mask back on and stepped out, looking around. The men had already gotten up and left. "I hate talking about myself."

"Too bad. We have time and I think I earned answers." She shut the door behind them and started forward walking, looking back at Raph. "Come on now, this way. And get talking."

For the first time ever, Raph found no offense in being bossed around by this girl and followed behind her, "Well… when my brothers and I were small…"

When they got to the corner where her apartment was located, Raph hung behind in the alley and said goodbye to Samantha from the cover of the alley's darkness.

"Raph?" Samantha stopped a few feet away from him and looked back at him sadly, her brown eyes making his stomach do back flips.

"What's up?"

"Will I ever see you again?" The look on her face was genuine. He felt that she really did want to see him again.

"Yeah… yeah. I'm sure ya will. Ya know who I am now anyway. Gotta make sure ya keep this a secret." Raph teased and crossing his arms.

Samantha smiled, "See soon then Raph, I hope."

Raphael waited until she disappeared into her apartment before he turned and made his way to Casey's apartment on the rooftops of the buildings. All his way there, he tried to think of what to tell Casey and if he should tell his brothers. This wasn't a big deal was it? It was just some losers who didn't get what they wanted so they handled it stupidly of course. If he told his family, how would he be able to see Samantha without them pestering him? When he got to Casey's he jumped down to the fire escaped and knocked on the window. Casey was still up, sitting on the couch, watching TV. Casey got up to open it and let Raph in.

"Hey Raph. Ya know, Donny called. I dunno if they believed me when I told 'im ya were here crashin' at my place. What's up? What happened?"

Raph walked past him and plopped down on the couch, much to Casey's annoyance. "Have time?

Who knew what woke him up this early? He had barely fallen asleep a couple hours ago. He pulled out his shell cell and looked at the time. _Four in the morning,_ Raphael groaned and got up from the couch. He may as well make his way back to the sewer, if he made it late for training then he'd just be asking for trouble. It was only Thursday. Just a few more days until their day off on Sunday. Raph walked to the window and let himself out. He climbed the fire escaped and took a moment to appreciate the night sky. He still just couldn't explain what got him up at this hour. He looked in the direction of Sam's apartment and his heart dropped. A giant plume of smoke rose was rising from that area. _It can't be hers… can it?_ Raph tried to control the thoughts plowing through his mind but the feeling in his gut kept stabbing at him and he found himself leaping from building to building to get to the black cloud in the sky. He stopped at the building across the way from Sam's apartment and he just couldn't bring himself to believe what he was seeing. The windows and walls of Samantha's room had been blown out and fire erupted from the top of the building. People stood outside of the apartment in their PJ's, looking up at their home as it went up in smoke, the fire department barely pulling up with their sirens blasting. It must have just gone up in smoke a bit ago if the fire department was just getting there. Out of all the people there below, Sam was not with them. _Where is she?!_ Raph panicked as he leapt to the building looking across from the blasted wall in Sam's room, taking care not to fall from the ledge that was damaged from the explosion. He took a deep breath and dived into the smoke, landing on the floor and keeping low. He covered his face with his hand and cried, "SAM!"

 _You've got to be here…_

To be continued….


	4. Chapter 4

"SAM!" Raphael called out again, the smoke beginning to choke him. He tore the fabric around his wrist off and used it to cover his mouth and nose. "SAM!"

The flames were erupting from her bedroom area, leading Raphael to believe that the explosive had been set up in her room. He refused to believe that she had been caught in it and began to make his way through the small apartment, crouched down low beneath the smoke. The apartment was so unbelievably tiny though, that Raphael had very little options of places to search. He eyed the room to his right which had a giant hole blasted into it from the explosion. It was the bathroom and he looked hard into the room from a distance, not knowing yet if he should be hopeful and move onto the other floors of the building to look for Sam. From where he was crouched, he could see that the wall had indeed been blasted away and had crumbled on top of the giant, white bathtub. His heart leapt as he noticed that there was a leg dangling over the side of the tub from the inside. He crawled his way through the hole as fast as he could and began to tear away the tumbled wall from the tub. The beating of his heart in his throat was so powerful, he swore he could almost choke on it as he lay eyes on the limp and unconscious body of Sam, who was still fully clothed and soaked to the bone. It was obvious she had been turning on the water for a bath when the device went off, knocking her into the tub. What exactly had happened and was it really still only the Purple Dragon Gang in this at this point now? Raphael picked her up gingerly, holding her close to him, trying to listen for any signs of life in her. He brought her head up close to his face and he could hear her faint shallow breaths.

 _Oh my God, she's alive!_ Raphael quickly made his way back out of the hole in the wall, the flames were getting more violent shutting him off from his escape from the way he came in. He turned to the apartment's entrance and kicked down the door, which didn't take much, the walls had taken heavy damage. He ran out into the apartment hallway, the floor empty as it had long since been evacuated. A loud _BOOM!_ Made him duck as he started to run towards the window at the end of the hall. The fire escape was so close, he could almost taste it. He smashed through the window, curling around Samantha's body, shielding her from the broken glass. He ran up the fire escape, getting as high up as he possibly could to be able to leap onto the next building. When Raphael cleared the leap, stopped to look down at Samantha, her face covered in white rubble from the collapsing walls, her curly hair in limp, wet curls about her face, and a large gash ran above her left brow which meant she possibly hit her head on the faucet as she went down. Her breathing was still shallow and Raphael was left with a decision to make. He looked back at the apartment building they had escaped, listening to the sirens of the approaching fire trucks and paramedics. Should Raphael take her to the hospital, where she could obviously get medical attention that she possibly needed or take her down to the lair where she could be safe and not risk another attempt on her life?

"Mm… nn… R… Raph?"

"Sam!" He looked back down at the girl cradled in her arms, he grabbed her face to help her focus on him as her stare was hazy, "Yeah Sam. It's me! Oh my God… there were other ways of seeing me again."

Sam gave a weak smile before she broke into a fit of coughing, almost choking on the debris she likely inhaled, "A-Are you… taking me to the hospital?"

"I-Is that where ya want ta go? I don't know if they'll try again Sam. I don't know what ta do here." Raphael looked hard at her for an answer, hoping that he wouldn't have to make that call on his own.

Sam's eyes began to drift to the back of her head, making Raphael panic and begin to shake her to keep her awake, "Raph…"

Sam slipped into unconsciousness, leaving Raphael there to stand alone again with his options. He eyed the burning building behind them and then stared down the street where a manhole was nearby. Raphael couldn't waste any more time and leapt down from the building, making a mad dash for the manhole, trying to avoid the crowd that was beginning to form in the street to watch as the apartment went up in flames. Raphael tossed Samantha over his shoulder quickly for a moment in order to be able to open and close the manhole once he was inside. The moment that Raphael set foot in the sewer, he began to sprint towards the lair, still trying to listen for Sam's breathing. If anyone could help her now, it would be Donny. Hopefully they were all awake by now….

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"Why is it that Raph is always comin' home with all these pretty girls? First April… now this one…"

"Can it Mikey!" Raphael gave his Mikey a violent shove with his shoulder as he ran towards Don's room, laying Samantha on Don's bed.

Donatello bolted upright from the machine at his desk, judging from the dark circles beneath his eyes, he had not slept all night, "Raph?! What are you doing! What's going-?!"

"Don! You have to help her! There was an explosion, she was in it. You have to help her Don. I don't know how hurt she is." He pleaded with Don as Don immediately darted for a large case beneath his bed, tossing it on top of the bed near Samantha.

Donatello flung the case open and pulled a stethoscope and sphygmomanometer from it, "Raphael, who is she? Oh my God, shouldn't she be at a hospital?! I don't know how much I could do here-!"

"I couldn't take her there Donny! You don't understand! Someone tried to hurt her! Just please do something!"Raph became so frustrated that he hadn't noticed Leonardo and his father Splinter come up behind him, looks of concern on their faces.

"Raph! What are you doing?! Who is she?! What happened-?!" Leonardo started to grab Raphael by the shoulder, but his hand was clutched with an attempt to crush his fingers and then it was shoved away hard enough to hit the wall behind him.

"Not now fearless!" Raphael gave him a look that could almost penetrate his soul and then turned back to look at Samantha.

Michelangelo looked at his eldest brother and pat his shoulder, "It's ok man. Later?"

"Now." Splinter commanded and Raphael looked back at him, disappointed, angry and frightened. He couldn't leave her right now.

"But Master-!"

"Now… Raphael." Splinter did not wait for his son to respond, turning away and walking out the bedroom door to his room.

Raphael looked to Mike and Leonardo who were standing to the far side of the room and then to Donatello, who had pulled out his shell cell and began to dial, "Don? Who are you calling? How is she?"

"Raph, she's fine. Her blood pressure is a little high but her pulse is too, it could just be she's in pain. Pupils dilate and her breathing is fast but adequate. No signs of internal hemorrhage or trauma to her skull. I don't know about her hearing yet. I'm calling April so she could help me look at the rest of her body for any other injuries I may have missed. Plus, I don't think she'd be too happy with the likes of me looking at her naked body. Go with Master Splinter." Donatello coughed and answered April who had picked up on the other line.

Raphael reluctantly turned towards the door, giving Samantha one last glance. As he made his way out, Leonardo's eyes met his and it looked as though Leo was ready to say something but a nudge in the side by Mikey and a dark look from Raphael was enough to stop him as Raph left to see Master Splinter. Once he stepped through the door, closing it behind him, Splinter was already kneeling on the floor in the center of the room. Raphael stopped before reaching the center of the room and grabbed his head. He suddenly found himself very nervous for a very different reason and could no longer find the words he needed to use to speak with his father.

"Master Splinter, I… Let me just…," Raphael looked down at his hands which were covered in rubble, soot and blood. He could not keep them from shaking, his father could be furious with him. Once again he had exposed them. This time might not turn out as well as it did last time.

For a moment Splinter sat quietly as if giving Raphael a moment to find his words to speak but when it seemed that Raphael couldn't even find a place to start, Splinter motioned for him to kneel. "My son, I see that you are very troubled. Have confidence, however, in Donatello. I can assure you, he is doing everything he possibly can to help the young woman you have brought here. Please, kneel here with me. You have much to tell me. Please begin first with how you know her."

Raphael unwillingly knelt before his father, his hands shaking as he began to tell his father who Samantha was and why he couldn't have simply left her at the hospital. The entire time that Raphael spoke, Splinter remained stoic, listening to Raphael's story without batting an eye or uttering a word. The more Raphael spoke, the more he began to doubt his decision in bringing her to the lair. It was completely possible that she could have been just fine at the hospital. Donatello was knowledgeable, yes, but did not specialize in the medical field. If she died down here, Raphael would be completely responsible. His head began to hurt and he stopped talking, letting his words hang in the air between him and Master Splinter.

"Raphael, I have always said that you bear the weight of the world on your shoulders. Do not let this weigh on your head. You did what you believed to be right. The young woman needed you and you were there. Had you not been then I doubt the situation would have been much more favorable than what it is now."

Raphael stared at the empty space in the floor between him and Master Splinter. He didn't know what to say but it was true. Had he helped Samantha get to the hospital, the likeliness of someone waiting for her to get there to finish what was left of her was very high. Samantha had made this personal between her and the Purple Dragons. The idea of blowing her up and not making sure she was dead was not an option. The sound of footsteps running up the stairs and down the hallway towards the room shook Raphael from his thoughts. His head shot up and he looked towards the door as Mikey flung it wide open, a huge smile on his face.

"Raph! Donny says your girlfriend is going to be alright. She's doin' good. April and Casey are here. Come on down, she was askin' for ya earlier!" Mikey ran back out the door with the goofiest look on his face.

Raphael couldn't even be angry at Mike. He had given Raphael the good news that Samantha was going to be ok. Raphael glanced at Master Splinter and bowed his head, "Master, if I could just…"

Splinter raised his hand and nodded, "Go."

Raphael jumped to his feet and bolted out the door, "Thank you father!"

Instead of taking the stairs, Raphael leapt over the railing of the balcony, startling Casey who was waiting for him below. Raphael stopped for a second to give Casey a look that was almost of shame and Casey gently nudged Raphael's arm with a closed fist, a gesture of sympathy towards his green friend. Raphael turned away from Casey and entered Donatello's room. Everyone turned to look at him except for April who was tending to the laceration on Samantha's rib cage, tenderly patting it with gauze. Michelangelo, who had been sitting next to Samantha's bedside, holding her hand, immediately got up and backed away from the bed, an impish smile on his face. Raphael frowned at him and took his seat next to Samantha's bed.

"She thought I was you," Mikey laughed nervously as Raphael shot him a look. "I guess all us turtles look alike to her?"

Raphael frowned and looked back at Samantha, whose face had been wiped clean, likely by April. He grabbed her hand gently and squeezed, hoping to illicit some response from her, "Samantha? Hey, can you hear me?"

Several moments passed as everyone in the room waited silently for Samantha to answer. Raphael squeezed her hand again and several more moments passed before Raphael received a squeeze back in response. Raphael let out a sigh of relief and released her hand. April continued to tape gauze to the open wound on her rib cage and when she finished, she pulled the blanket over her rib cage. At this point, Samantha lay completely naked beneath the covers, which now since Samantha was stabilized, made everyone in the room awkward. Raphael stared at April as she began to pick up the tattered and blood soaked clothes of Samantha off the floor and disposing of them in the can. He was almost to afraid to ask but he had to know.

"Don…," Raphael swallowed thickly, "If she didn't have any bleeding, what is all that?"

Donatello, who had been putting away his emergency kit, looked at his worried brother and stated simply, "All her wounds were superficial. Just some lacerations, cuts and bruises here and there. Nothing serious though so far from what I can see. Her hearing might still be intact. Explosion you said right? No apparent damage to the tympanic membrane but we will see soon… Oh geez, her ear drum looks ok but I don't know how affected her hearing was and the blood is just from cuts on her skin." Donatello rolled his eyes as the others looked at him confused, frustrated that he had to simplify what he had explained.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Raphael asked, still concerned at how she could be in pain but still asleep.

Donatello waved the empty, tiny vial in his hand, "Toradol. Narcotic for pain. She might not have taken pain meds before so she could be a little sedated. Don't worry. I made sure her head was ok first before giving her this."

Raphael gave Donatello a small smile, "Thanks Don." Don smiled back and gave him a nod.

April sat back in her chair and looked up at Casey as he entered the room, "She's ok Casey."

Casey smiled at April as he crossed over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Good job babe."

April smiled up at him and then looked back at Raphael, "Raph… Casey told me what happened. She was really lucky you were there when you were." She looked down at Samantha, a sad look on her face, "You don't know what she means to all those kids and those families."

"You told them but you didn't tell us?" Leonardo suddenly found his face and stepped forward towards Raph who was still sitting in his chair.

"Not now Leo," Raphael avoided Leonardo's angry stare and kept his eyes on Sam, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

"This is your family, Raphael! What is it with you and keeping secrets? How do you know this girl? And why couldn't you tell us about this in the first place-?"

Raphael jumped up from his chair and stepped up to Leonardo, his hands curled into tight fists and his face inches away from Leo's, "And what good would that have done me Leo?! The noble warrior that you are… with the idea that nothing that goes on above us is our business… She'd probably be dead already had I opened my mouth and said anything to you!"

"Yeah Raph! It isn't our business! How many times are you going to expose our family?! Put US in danger. Not everyone you meet is going to be like April or Casey! What about us?! Don't you give a damn?!"

"Yes I fucking do!" Raph pushed his chest against Leo's and Leo was ready to push back until Mikey jumped in between the two, extending his arms and pushing them away from each other.

"Whoa guys! Just chill out! You guys don't want to be doing this here right now, right?" Mikey looked at them both, both of them still glaring at each other.

"Michelangelo is right." They all turned to face the entrance of the bedroom, Splinter stood there, hands behind his back and looking very serious. "At this time, my sons, the young lady is healing and your negative vibrations may very well be impeding that. It interrupts her rest. Leonardo, I am very proud of you my son in the way you choose to remain in the shadows which is the way of the ninja… however, friends are first known in hardships. We will see where we stand with this young lady when she heals. Now, we must let her rest." Splinter turned and walked out the door, leaving Leonardo with a frustrated look on his face.

"Well, seeing as how my bed is taken… I'm going to the lab. I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyway." Donatello grabbed the machine he had been working on from the desk and started for the door, he looked back at the group behind him, "Well… I don't know if you want to take turns watching her for now guys or…"

Mikey's arm shot up, "I'll take first watch!" Raphael smacked the back of his head, making a loud noise against his bald head, "OW! Raph! What the-?!"

"I don't think so… I got this." Raphael sat next to Samantha, ignoring the looks he was getting from Leo and the pouting from Mikey.

April stood up next, "Well, Casey and I will stay I guess if that's ok with you guys? In case you need anything."

Casey nodded, "We'll just set up in your guys' living room."

Mikey grinned, "Cool! Sleepover! I'll get the popcorn." He darted out of the room with April and Casey trailing behind.

Casey looked over at April, "How old is he again?"

April smiled and rolled her eyes. Once they were out of the room, Leonardo gave Raphael a serious look before muttering under his breath, "I'll come relieve you in a couple hours."

Raphael quietly nodded, not looking at Leo as he left the room.

When Leonardo left, Raphael left out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, staring at Samantha, quietly sleeping. Slowly marks had begun to appear on her face. Bruises and swelling were beginning to make themselves apparent as time began to pass. Raphael's face fell, the feeling of sadness weighing on his head. If only he hadn't left her just yet. If he had maybe stayed to watch her this wouldn't have happened. He sat there silently just watching her and then her hand twitched. He stared at her, waiting for her to move again but this time she spoke softly.

"Raphael…?"

He moved closer to her and place his hand on hers, "Yeah, kid? I'm here."

"Mm." She let out a small sound of acknowledgement before becoming still again, her chest rising and falling again gently.

Raphael patted her hand before pulling it back and crossing his arms. _I don't know what yet… but I'm going to do something about this Sam. Just watch. I promise._

To be continued…..


	5. Short Story Intermission

Short story #1

In a kingdom, in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful, young princess. She was only seven years old. Her father was a mighty warrior and king of all the land; her brother was a knight. Despite his mighty and powerful demeanor as ruler of his land, the king was tender and loving towards his daughter, Samantha, and was known as a kind king all throughout the land. His wife, the queen, died to give their daughter life, therefore she was a precious treasure to him as she was the spitting image of his deceased love. She had short, dark, curly locks that were difficult for her lady-in-waiting to tame into tight braids about her head and her eyes were light brown and deep. So deep, no matter how much she tried, the lady-in-waiting could never lose her patience with the sweet, little girl and those beautiful eyes that could not help but show every bit of hurt she felt when she made her lady-in-waiting, Gabriela, frustrated.

Every night, Samantha's father would tuck her into her large, fluffy bed with royal blue duvets and read her a story filled with fantasy and wonder. Her favorite stories were that of great knights and beautiful princesses, some who needed saving and some who saved. For instance, among her favorites was 'The Frog Prince', where the princess saves the prince from an eternity of living as a frog. She had heard that story over a thousand times. After story time, her father would plant a delicate kiss on her forehead and turn out her light, letting Samantha slip away peacefully into her dreamland filled with dragons, knights, witches and princesses.

One morning, Samantha rose almost near midday on her own. This was strange because Gabriela would usually wake her up every morning and help her wash her face and get dressed for the rest of her day. _Maybe she's still sleeping?_ Samantha thought to herself and got up to get her own wash water running. She quickly washed her face and slipped into a short, light blue dress. Not wanting to struggle with her own hair, or maybe she just simply didn't know how to manage it, she ran the comb through it once and wrapped a thin black ribbon around her head, fastening it into a bow at the top. She smiled and spun around in the mirror to admire how well she was able to take care of herself. A yellow ball sat near her toy chest, she scooped it up and ran out the door to look for Gabriela.

Samantha did not have to look far. She had made her way down the hall to Gabriela's room where a small crowd had formed just outside of it, muttering and whispering. The sounds of retching could be heard from inside and her father walked out, shaking his head. Samantha ran up to her father and tugged on his coat, "Daddy? Is Gaby alright?"

Her father looked down at her and smiled weakly, "She's going to be fine my love. The doctor is with her and helping her as much as she can." He knelt down and held the hand that Samantha wasn't using to hold her ball, "Sunshine… I need you to be a good girl ok? Daddy and everyone is going to be in the palace cleaning everything to make sure no one else gets sick, ok? Even brother. I want you to go outside and play ok? In the courtyard. Don't wander too far. Only the courtyard. Understand, sweetheart?"

Samantha tried to contain the look of joy on her face. She was never allowed outside on her own. Yes, she did feel badly for Gabriela, she loved her lady-in-waiting, but Gabriela was always so busy and never let her explore the courtyard. "Yes, daddy!" She kissed her father on the cheek and ran for the courtyard, swinging the large, stained-glass doors wide open.

The sun shone brightly, golden rays poured out across the thousands of roses and making the large pond glisten. She watched as golden butterflies fluttered past and hummingbirds paused to feed on the white, bell-shaped flowers. Samantha inhaled deeply and kicked her ball across the courtyard, chasing it. For the moment she was free and she ran along the edge of the pond, splashing up water with her hand. She continued to kick the ball further and further towards the rear of the courtyard, picking up dandelions and blowing away their florets. Again she kicked the ball, finally hitting the wall at the very far end of the courtyard. She smiled, panting slightly from running so much, and bent over to pick up her ball. Then, something caught her eye. There was a crack in the stone wall between the vines that grew all over it. The crack was too small for an adult to squeeze through. But, Samantha was just the perfect size. She hugged her ball close to her and looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching her.

Once she determined that the coast was clear, Samantha began to squeeze herself through the crack, which proved to be difficult with the ball cradled in her arms. However, Samantha managed to get through and was pleasantly surprised by a scene that was almost out of her fairytale books. Large, lush trees, taller than her palace walls, stood before her. Birds could be heard chirping high in the trees and furry, little animals ran to hide in the thousands of brush that were about. She giggled happily, very proud of her decision to explore the hole in the stone wall. She bounced the ball against the ground, giggling at the sound it made hitting the dirt and continued to walk through the forest, watching the forest creature move in the bushes. She eyed a squirrel in the tree, not paying attention to the path in front of her. The large root of a tree sat above the ground and Samantha did not notice it, stumbling over it and falling to her knees, losing her hold on her ball.

"No!" Samantha cried, _Brother said that was my mom's childhood toy._ She scrambled to her feet quickly as the ball rolled away and fell out of sight.

Samantha dashed after the ball, not realizing it had fallen over a ledge and she was now tumbling down dirt and brush after it. "AH!" Samantha let out a scream as she rolled down, down, down the ledge before she hit the very bottom where her ball was. Samantha grabbed her knee with tears in her eyes, fighting the urge to let them fall as she rubbed her scraped knee. She rubbed her eyes and stood up, checking anywhere else that hurt and might be bleeding. The only thing damaged was her dress which was torn from the hem, likely caught on vine or branch when she fell. She grabbed her ball from the ground and looked up, fear settling in the pit of her stomach as she realized there was likely no way she was going to get back up the ledge, which stood at least 15 feet high, which for her was impossible to reach, she was only about 4 feet tall. Just as Samantha was about to walk away into the forest to find a way back up the ledge before it got dark, a voice from the bush behind her made her jump back and against the ledge.

"Nice fall. Your name must be autumn." The voice teased, it sounded young. Like a child.

Samantha pouted, tears still in her eyes from fright, "Be quiet! I've never been out in this forest before! Come on out of the bushes, you bully!"

The voice laughed, it sounded like a boy's voice, "Yeah… pretty obvious you're not from around here." The voice still chose not to step out from the bushes.

"You are so mean! Come out now! Come out or I'll go and pull you out, jerk!" Samantha stomped her foot, voice shaking with frustration.

There was nothing but silence for a moment from the bush and Samantha yelled again, "Ok jerk! I'm going in to get you!"

"Whoa! Ok, ok, ok! Look, calm down. Just… do me a favor… promise you won't… freak out," the tone of the voice changed to one of anxiousness, but Samantha was too angry to notice.

"Just come out!"

Slowly, a little, green figure stepped out from the bush, holding a large stick in his hand. The large, bright, green eyes glinted in the spots of sun that shone in between the trees. For a moment they were both silent, just staring at each other and both shaking like leaves, rooted in their spots. The little, green creature coughed and started anxiously, "So… thank you… for not freaking… out?"

Samantha stood there for a few more minutes, silently trembling before finding her voice, "You… who are you? What happened to you?"

"Look girl! You're in my home and you should be telling me who you are!"

Samantha frowned, getting frustrated again, "Your home?"

"Yeah! That's right! MY home! Now who are you and what are you doing here?"

Samantha narrowed her eyes at him, "Gosh you're rude! I'm Samantha. My dad is King of this land… which makes me the princess."

The green creature crossed his arms, "Princess huh? Never heard of her. My name's Raphael. I live here in the forest with my brothers and my father. We don't really know your king."

"There's more of you…? Well… Raphael… if you can help me get back up there," Samantha pointed at the ledge, still holding her ball, "I'll let you meet my dad, the king."

Raphael's eyes brightened, "Meet a king? The King? Sure! Shake on it first though! It's not a deal until you shake on it." Raphael held out his three fingered hand which took Samantha aback for a second, staring at it and making her sweat a little. Raphael coughed, embarrassed by her staring so much, "Come on, just shake!" He grabbed her hand and she flinched a little but continued to shake his hand. "Ok then!" Raphael clapped his hands and stepped up to the ledge behind her. He got on his hands and knees, "Let's do this!"

Samantha stared at the shell on his back, _He's a turtle._

"Hey! Wake up Sammy!" Raphael called back to her, annoyed, still on his hands and knees. "Climb onto my shoulders and I'll lift you up there and then you can pull me up."

Samantha pouted, "My name is Samantha! Not Sammy!" She walked up to him and swung a leg over his neck to rest onto his other shoulder. She cradled her ball close to her chest, "Ok… read- whoa!"

Raphael stood up with her on his shoulders, trembling beneath the girl's weight, "G…Go! G-grab it!"

Samantha tried to grasp the branch hanging from the ledge, not being able to reach it still, "I can't! It's still too tall!"

"Stand up! I got you!" Raphael started to push up on her feet to get her to stand but Samantha quickly lost her balance and they both fell to the ground.

Samantha cradled her elbow, which was now also scraped, grabbed her ball and sat up against the ledge. _How am I going to get home?_ She put the ball on the ground next to her and buried her face in her hands and cried, "I want to go home."

Raphael rubbed his rear end which ached and looked at Samantha who was crying. The annoyed look on his face disappeared and he began to make his way over to Samantha, "Aw, crying isn't going to get ya anything." He stopped and sat down next to her, for a second he didn't move and then he put his arm around her shoulder, blushing when she leaned against him, "Look… we'll get ya up there. My brothers should be by any minute now…"

"Raph! I found you!" A voice called, running out from behind the trees. Another turtle, who was light green, ran up laughing and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Raph with his arm around a sniffling girl, "HEY! You had help! You cheated! No fair Raphie!"

"R-Raphie?" Samantha hiccupped, wiping away her tears and staring at the other turtle.

"Mike! Stop calling me that!" Raphael blushed and chastised Mikey through gritted teeth for using his pet name.

"What? You cheated!" Mikey turned around and called behind him, "Donny! Leo! I found Raph! He was cheating this whole time!"

"I don't know if there's a way to cheat with hide and seek, Mikey." Another turtle who was more of an olive-green color, stepped through the bushes, holding a small, metal trinket in his hand. "You drifted kind of far up north, Raph. The compass says so." He held up the metal trinket, showing Raphael the spinning needle, "It could be wrong though… hm…?" The olive-green turtle suddenly spotted Samantha who finally stood up, her eyes puffy and red from crying, "Uh…oh…"

"Raph! We talked about cheating! There's no fun in cheating!" Another emerald green turtle popped out from the bushes, stopping dead in his tracks as Samantha began to grab a hold of Raphael's arm, putting him between her and the other turtles. "Raph! Splinter is going to be so mad! Who is she? Where did you find her?"

"Splinter doesn't have to know Leo! We just need to get her back up the ledge so she can get back to her family. Did you know her dad's the king? Maybe we can meet him too!"

"Raph! I don't think that's a good idea. Remember that Splinter said we don't look like other people. They might be scared of us." Leonardo grabbed Mikey by the arm, who was trying to grab Samantha out from behind Raphael. "Stop that Mikey."

"Aw… but she's so interesting-looking. Right Donny?" Mikey smiled at her and Samantha felt herself blush.

"Well… we might be interesting-looking to her Mikey." Donatello replied, eyeing Samantha up and down. "You're the princess? That's weird… I thought princesses were dressed up more in poufy dresses. Interesting."

"Ok, ok, ok. Knock it off guys, can we just focus on getting on her up there please?" Raphael pointed at the ledge.

"Raph, I don't know. Maybe we should get Splin-!" Leo started but was cut off by Samantha who stepped forward, pleading.

"Please, Leo… I want to go home to my daddy." Samantha looked at him with her deep, brown eyes filled with sadness.

Leo suddenly became very nervous and paused for a second, "Um… oh… well… ok. Ok, um… here. Raph, you get on the bottom, I'll go next and then Donny and…"

Mikey looked at Leonard eagerly, "And…?"

"Uh… Actually we should be good with just three. You can just watch for now Mikey." Leonardo patted Mikey's fallen head as Mikey walked away, pouting.

"Alright let's do this." Raphael got on his hands and knees once again, allowing Leonardo to mount his shoulders. Leonardo leaned forward and allowed Donatello to mount his shoulders next. Much to his embarrassment, Donatello leaned forward to allow Samantha to get on his shoulders. Raph breathed in and out slowly, "Ok, guys. On the count of three… 1… 2… 3!" Raphael stood up quickly, latching on to Leo's legs quickly, Leo latching onto Donny's legs quickly and Donny stabilizing Samantha on his shoulder as she went to reach for the branch.

"Just a little more guys….," Samantha grunted as he tried to reach the branch but very quickly, she began to feel the support beneath her sink.

"I can't hold it anymore guys!" Raphael collapsed beneath the weight, falling back and sending Samantha flying.

For a split second, Samantha thought she was doomed, now knowing where she was going to land. She closed her eyes, sure she was ready to make impact with a rock or something dangerous when she felt herself land into something soft and sturdy. She opened her eyes and looked up. A brown, furry face looked down at her, straight-faced and serious. She became still, just staring at the creature that held her. The creature let her down gently and then looked at all of the turtles sternly. All at once, they all started to speak, explaining their actions. They almost sounded like they were going to court.

"Splinter you don't understand! It was-!"

"Raphael was cheating but we are all sorry! Please don't-!'

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't think this would-!"

"We were just trying to help-!"

A loud smack resonated throughout the forest. Splinter had struck them all at once with his tail, making them all go silent, tears in their eyes. Splinter turned around to look at Samantha, who was still in shock that their father was a rat, "I'm sorry my dear. I will help you in a second." He turned back around to his sons, and spoke, his voice stern, "I told you buys to stay away from these castle walls. Do you not understand what I tell you? We do not look like them! They will not understand you!"

Raphael spoke, rubbing his cheek with a single tear running down his face, "Splinter, she said she'll take me to meet her dad if I help her. Maybe then we can-!"

Splinter sighed, giving Raphael a look of disappointment that stopped Raphael in his tracks, Making Raphael lower his head. Samantha felt badly for Raphael. He really did try to help her and he was eventually nice to her. She really did like Raphael. Maybe there was a way to help him too? Before Splinter could speak again, Samantha walked past him, grabbing Raphael's arm. Raphael looked at her, tears still welling in his eyes. She felt so bad for him, he heart ached to see him like this. Much to the surprise of Raphael's brothers and Master Splinter, Samantha leaned over and kissed Raphael's cheek. It took him a second to register what had just happened before Raphael pulled his cheek away from Samantha, blushing furiously and touching the place where she kissed him. The other turtles "ooooh'd" and teased Raphael, becoming still again when they remembered that Splinter was there, looking shocked at Samantha. In return, Samantha also looked shocked, staring at Raphael and still holding his arm.

"Why… why didn't it work?"

Splinter blinked at her, "What didn't work my dear?"

Samantha looked up at Splinter before looking back at Raphael, "Why didn't he turn into a human?"

Splinter blinked at her some more and the turtles all looked at each other. Everything was silent for a second before Splinter burst out laughing heartily. Samantha blushed and looked at Raphael who was also still blushing. Mikey began to chuckle a little before Donatello could elbow him in the side to silence him. Splinter slowly began to stop laughing, wiping a tear from his eye from laughing so hard, "I'm sorry my dear. But it was rather… cute. Looks like Raphael was the first to get his kiss out of his brothers. In this world… I didn't know if any of my sons would." 

Samantha blushed harder, finally releasing Raphael's arm who looked like he was ready to crawl into his own shell from embarrassment, "But… but my storybook… the frog prince… a kiss from a princess will…"

Splinter stopped laughing completely and smiled gently at Samantha, "I'm sorry my dear… my sons and I are not cursed… there is no magic here. We will be this way forever." Splinter looked at the sad expression on Samantha's face, feeling sympathy for the little girl who wanted so desperately to help his son, "My dear, your name is?"

Samantha looked up at him sadly, "Samantha."

"Samantha. I thank you for trying to help me and my sons. I really appreciate your effort. You are very kind and you will be a wonderful queen one day. But I must ask you a favor." He knelt down to meet Samantha's eyes, "Please don't tell anyone about us. They will not be as kind, smart and understanding as you."

Samantha lowered her eyes sadly, "Yes sir."

Splinter smiled and raised her chin, "Let's get you back home."

Splinter picked up Raphael and put him on his shoulders and then lifted Samantha, helping her climb to Raphael's shoulders. This was more than enough to help her climb to the branch on the ledge. Samantha looked back as Raphael still had his hand out, reaching for hers. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it sadly. Raphael squeezed hers back and let it go, his eyes filling with sadness again as Splinter lowered him to the ground.

"Hey! Wait!" Donatello grabbed Samantha's ball from the ground and handed it to Splinter who tossed it up to the ledge with her.

Samantha grabbed her ball and hugged it to her chest. She looked down at them with tears in her eyes, "Thank you…"

Splinter smiled up at her, "Remember, Samantha." He raised a finger to her lips and made a hushing sound and turned to walk away, with the other turtles behind him.

Samantha let the tears fall from her eyes. It just wasn't fair that they were so nice to her and she couldn't bring them home with her. People would look at them like they were monsters and they were far from that. She watched as they began to make their way into the trees and shouted, "When I'm queen… you will all be welcome in my palace one day!"

Splinter chuckled and ushered the turtles into the woods, "I'm sure Samantha!" The last turtle, Raphael was the one to go into the woods and he looked on as his son looked back at Samantha with sadness and longing. "Come now, Raphael." He walked in before Raphael, knowing well that his son was trailing behind.

Raphael looked behind him, waiting for Splinter to disappear into the woods before he turned back around to look up at Samantha. Raphael began to furiously blush again, raising a hand to his face and blowing a kiss up to Samantha, making Samantha blush again through her tears, "When you are queen, I will be your king." He looked at her one last time, still blushing and then walked away after his brothers.

Once they were gone from view, Samantha made her way back to the courtyard. The sun was still up but it looks like Samantha had been gone enough to start a frenzy. She could hear the maids and servants calling for her in the palace. The stained-glass doors entrance to palace swung open and her brother came out calling for her and running. She called out to him and he sprinted on up to her, panting.

"You brat! We were all looking for you! Where have you been?! What happened to your dress?! And your knees?!" The prince eyed her up and down, examining her body, he was, of course, much older than her and very protective.

"Nothing… I just… fell into the rose bushes."

"You klutz… leave it to you to make roses look clumsy. Come on… let's go. Dad is looking for you. Gabriela is feeling better. But she might need another day of rest. Think you can manage being on your own one more day?" He held her hand as he walked back with her to the palace, squeezing it gently.

Samantha looked up at him and smiled, "Yeah… I think I can manage…"

END


	6. Chapter 5

"Raph… hey Raph. Wake up."

"Nn?" Raph was being shaken awake gently by the shoulder, the voice in his ear was soft.

"RAPH!"

Raph jumped from his chair, his leg getting caught behind the leg of the chair, causing him to fumble and fall, "What the shell?!" He looked up at Mikey who was trying very hard to stifle his laughter. Raph quickly glanced at Samantha who was still asleep in Don's bed, "Mikey, are you kidding me… what the shell do you want?"

Mikey narrowed his eyes at Raph, "You need to rest. I'll take over your watch… Plus Leo is looking for somebody to train until his shift comes up and I really don't want to today." Mikey grinned and picked up the chair behind Raph and set it against the wall next to Samantha, taking out a comic and leaning back, making himself comfortable.

Raphael frowned, "Really? You know what you're doing Mike?"

Without looking up at him, Mikey waved his hand, his eyes still focused on his comic, "Yeah dude. Go on. Get some food, use the bathroom or somethin'."

For a second, Raphael hesitated at the door but the rumbling in his stomach said that he should probably take his break. He made his way to the kitchen, letting out a chuckle as he spied Donatello, hunched over the table with his head down and a cup of coffee in his hand. Donatello must have never slept last night. He was not kind with his swinging the cupboard wide open, startling his geeky brother and almost making him drop his coffee. The dark circles beneath Donatello's eyes were even darker than earlier that morning during their fiasco. Raphael set his bowl of cereal down next to Don who was gingerly rubbing his temples.

"Rough night?" Raphael smirked, stuffing a spoonful of his cereal into his mouth.

Donatello glared at him, Don was always grumpy after a long night in his lab, "Are you kidding me? That was a rough MORNING. You burst in here around 5 in the morning, scaring the shell out of me. It is now…," Don checked his watch, "It is now 8 in the morning and I've had no sleep. I really doubt I'm going to get any now that Leo's probably going to come down soon to look for someone to spar with."

Raphael's face fell, "Don… I'm sorry."

Don stayed silent for a moment, studying the expression on Raph's face that said he really was sorry, "No… Don't worry about it. I probably wasn't going to sleep much anyway. Was working on some upgrades for the lair. Got really into it. Forget it."

This didn't help Raph much who still felt very guilty for scaring his family half to death. He hurriedly plowed through the rest of his breakfast and was getting up to wash his bowl when Casey walked in, April right behind him. Casey yawned, stretching towards the ceiling and cracking his neck, April massaged hers and sat at the table with Donatello. Right away Casey began to make himself at home, pouring a cup of coffee for April before helping himself to a bowl of the last of Raphael's cereal much to Raphael's annoyance. Casey plopped himself down right next to April who had begun to rub Donatello's shoulder, making Donatello close his eyes as he relaxed into April's hand.

"Geez, ya guys could get better couches. Something more comfortable. Those things feel like you're sleeping on a rock." Casey complained through a mouthful of cereal.

April rolled her own shoulders, "Its fine Case. How are you feeling Donny? You ok? You look so exhausted."

Donatello stood, cradling his coffee and started to walk away. The kitchen had now suddenly become too noisy for him, "I'm fine April. Just a cup of coffee and maybe a few minutes with my head down at my desk will fix me right up."

April smiled as Don left the room before she turned to look at Raphael who was leaning against the frame of the kitchen, "And you Raph? How are you holding up?"

Raphael looked away from the questioning look in her eyes, "Eh, I'm holding up. Thanks April, by the way… for what you did." 

April smiled, "Of course."

Leonardo entered the room and immediately silence fell over the room. Leo's eyes shifted between the three of them, April smiled and greeted him, nudging Casey, who was attempting to avoid eye contact like Raphael, to greet him as well. Raph stood up and made to leave the room but Leo stepped in front of him, making Raph's blood boil. Raphael clenched his fists and grit his teeth in order to maintain control of his temper. He shifted over to the side and Leo stepped in front of him once again.

"Leo… move. I don't feel like doing this…," Raph put his hand on Leo's shoulder to shove him aside but Leo grabbed it and pulled him out of the kitchen and away from the eyes of April and Casey. "Leo! I said I don't feel like doing this-!"

"I understand Raph." Leo let go of Raph's and looked down at the floor as if ashamed. "I just wanted to tell you that I get it… I just don't want you keeping secrets from us. I want you to trust out family. And I guess I feel bad that you trust her more than you trust us. We're family. We should trust each other. So I guess… what I really want to say…" Leo tapped the side of his temple, looking rather embarrassed.

Raphael's fist unclenched and he looked at his older brother, feeling a twinge of guilt for having kept Samantha's peculiar situation a secret from his family. He coughed, crossing his arms and looking down at the floor, "Yeah Leo. I know. Me too."

They looked at each other and smiled, fist bumping the other. Leo asked Raph what had happened with Samantha and Raphael was hesitant in explaining the situation at first, knowing Leo would probably get mad immediately again, but felt that he did need to trust his brothers more. They made their way to the living room, talking. They sat on the couch for a good while, Leo silent throughout Raph's story, much like Splinter. Just as Raphael was finishing his story where he had decided to bring Samantha back to the lair, a high-pitched scream rang throughout the lair, making Raphael and Leonardo both jump.

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE'S RAPH?!"

"OH SHELL! WAIT!"

A loud crash was heard from Don's room. Donatello burst from his lab, Casey and April sprinted out from the kitchen a few seconds after. Raphael and Leonardo looked at each, dumbfounded and dashed behind the others, Donny being the first to disappear into the room, followed by another high-pitched scream and another crash. Raph's blood ran cold and he pushed past Casey who was immediately rejected from entering the room by April. The scene before him was too ridiculous. Don and Mikey both lay on the floor unconscious, a chair lay in broken pieces near them and multiple other random articles such as a lamp and books. Samantha stood there, trying to keep her breasts and bottom covered, tears welling in her eyes. Raph covered his eyes with his hands while April attempted to calm the girl down.

"Sam! It's April! You have to calm down sweetie! These are Raph's brothers! Raph is here! I'm here!" April inched closer to Samantha, reaching out her hand to grab Sam's.

Sam stood there, her face beet red, possibly from embarrassment. Possibly from trying not to cry as well. But who knew at this point. Samantha looked furious, before she spotted Raphael standing at the entrance of the room, his hands still over his eyes, "Raph!"

"Yeah it's me, Sam. Just calm down and listen to… April!" Before April could stop her, Samantha darted towards Raph and wrapped her arms around his neck. Raph's face became so hot, the blood boiled in his face, having nowhere to escape. He could feel her breasts against his chest, her warm body flush against his. It wasn't long before the boiling temperature in his face could no longer be contained and bright, red blood erupted from his nose, spilling over his hand and Samantha's shoulder.

"Oh my God! I'm sorry!" Samantha backed away from him, face flushed red, covering herself up again. Raphael no longer had her to support his weight as he felt himself get dizzy from the embarrassment and blood loss, and he fell forward, joining his unconscious brothers on the floor.

"Oh my gosh… boys….," April shook her head as she threw a sheet over Samantha's shoulders, leading her out of Don's room, past Casey and Leonardo who chose to stay outside of the room, looking embarrassed, only imagining what had transpired in the room. She nudged Samantha gently towards the bathroom, looking back at Casey and Leonardo, annoyed, "Well? Why are you two just standing there? Get the other guys!" She closed the bathroom door behind them as Casey and Leo nodded nervously, scrambling into the room to collect the fallen turtles.

Xxxxxxxx

"I'm so sorry, Mikey. I didn't know… I just saw you sitting there and you were holding my hand, joking about how you thought I was so cute and such… I panicked. Thought you were trying to impersonate Raph or something… which sounds silly now." Samantha took a drink from her bottled water, keeping her eyes focused on the floor, feeling embarrassed for breaking a chair over Mikey's head while naked. She now sat there fully clothed in a large shirt and shorts that April found that Casey happened to leave over from the last time she kicked him out of the apartment to stay with their friends.

Mikey rubbed his head and smiled nervously, "Yeah… nah… it's ok. It's nothing you should be embarrassed about."

"Considering that is probably what you did…," Raphael glared at him and then lay his head back over the couch, pinching a tissue over the bridge of his beak.

Mikey gulped and looked around him, everyone but Samantha looking at him with a look of disapproval, "Nah… um… I got to go and… clean my… I have…I have to." He stood from the couch and made beeline straight to the lair's exit, grabbing his skateboard on the way out.

Leonardo shook his head at Mikey leaving, then turned to Donatello who was wiping his face with a towel, "So she managed to knock Mikey out with a chair, that gave him a huge bump on his head. What happened to you, Don? I don't see where she hit you."

Donatello stopped with the towel over his head, not answering and not removing the towel from his face, "Um…"

Samantha furrowed her brows, staring at the floor, "I… I don't think I hit you…"

April rolled her eyes and tugged slightly on the towel, making Donatello bring it down below his chin, revealing a streak of bright, red blood still dribbling from his nose and down his chin, "Believe me… you didn't."

Donatello pulled the towel back up over his face and walked away to his room, slamming the door shut behind him, muttering to himself, "This day has been so ridiculous… I can't believe this."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry guys. I'm so... ah! So angry with myself. I panicked. I'm sorry. I thought it was a dream or a night mare. I don't know." Samantha folded her legs on the couch and put her face in her hands, blushing furiously.

April stood up from the couch opposite of Sam and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's ok. You called work already right?"

Sam nodded, "Yes Miss O'neal…"

April frowned, "Call me April, Sam." She took a seat next to Samantha, looking at her sympathetically, "Sam… I know you don't want to hear this, but… I think it's best you close the gym… for now." She finished before Samantha could go into a fit at hearing she will have to close her gym. "Sam… what happened today, it was lucky that you didn't get seriously hurt. Those kids, if you go back now you might get them hurt too. It's best for you to work on getting yourself straightened out for now. Like, where are you going to stay? On top of it all, we don't want to risk you going back there until we make sure it's safe and find out how to get you away from these low lives."

Samantha clenched her fists on her knees and grit her teeth, "But my kids… those families… they all work, April. Where are these kids going to go after…"

"They'll figure it out. It's just temporary Sam." April held her hand, "You need more rest Samantha. Where will you stay? Are you coming with me and Casey?"

Samantha looked up at April, shocked, "You and Casey? But… what about your guys' safety?"

"Don't worry about us. We can handle ourselves." Casey interjected, pounding his chest with a closed fist.

April rolled her eyes, smiling, "Yeah. It may not look it but we are perfectly capable of handling the Purple Dragons on our own."

Samantha's eyes became sad and worried, "But… April…"

"You are welcome to stay with us."

Everyone turned to the stairs. Master Splinter walked towards them, a serious look his face, "The Purple Dragons have become more violent. The attempt on your life today was not unlike them, but their reasons for harming you have no logic. They could make an attempt on your life again and in their attempt, harm Miss O'Neal and Mr. Jones as well."

"Master Splinter… You're very kind. But I don't think that Samantha would feel comfortable staying here right now. She's not used to all this." April explained, still holding Sam's hand.

Raphael looked down at the floor, frustrated, knowing that April meant that Sam was not going to be comfortable staying with these mutant freaks. It would be much more comfortable for Sam to stay with April and Casey for now. He felt his heart go heavy, feeling as though as he had been hurt as if Sam really had called them mutant freaks. He grunted his disapproval and made to stand up, Sam watching him stand the entire time. Raphael began to make his way up to his room when he felt a hand grab his arm. He looked down, looking at Samantha who pleaded with her eyes not to leave her. He felt his heart jolt and he could feel Leo staring at them with curiosity. Raphael swallowed nervously as April and Splinter both stared as Samantha began to hug his arm and look at them with a serious expression on her face.

"I want to stay here… with Raphael." Samantha stood up and face Master Splinter, a serious expression on her face, "Master Splinter….?" Samantha bowed low and Splinter couldn't help but let out a small amused smile at the discomfort in Raphael's face, "I accept your kind welcome into your home."

"You are most welcome my dear." Master bowed in return and walked back to his room, leaving the others dumbfounded.

Samantha turned back to April, her face fallen, "I'm sorry, April. I'm just very comfortable with Raphael now… and I don't feel right putting you and Casey in danger."

April smiled sadly and hugged Samantha, "It's ok. Call those kids. Let them know the gym is closed. And if you need anything, call me. Let me know."

Samantha hugged April back warmly, "I will." She turned around and looked up at Raphael who was still speechless. She gave him a closed lipped, innocent smile that made the dimple on her cheek very prominent, making his heart beat in his chest loudly.

Raphael swallowed nervously, having a difficult time maintaining his tough guy disposition. Everyone else looked at him teasingly from behind Samantha, finding it very funny that, for once, Raphael was very speechless and had no "sarcastic" or "smart" things to say in this situation. _What… what just… what now?_ He thought to himself nervously, biting his lip.

Samantha smiled wider, tilting her head head at him, her eyes bright, "Where will I stay?"

To be continued….


	7. Chapter 6

The first couple days of the new living arrangements were strange, to say the least. Not that their new house guest was rude or obnoxious or even there in their way all the time but just knowing that there was a girl living there, their age, who wasn't April, was very… interesting? Samantha had refused since the beginning to evict any of the turtles, or Master Splinter, from their private quarters, despite their numerous and generous offers. It just didn't feel right to any of them that the girl with a large gash in her side, multiple bruises and lacerations was to sleep on the floor, on an old futon in the living room. On top of that, in her effort to remain as scarce to them as possible, so as not to disturb them, every morning before the turtles woke at 6 AM, Samantha will get up from the floor, pick up her futon and hide away where they could not see her and she could not disturb them. Many times Master Splinter could tell his sons were very distracted by their new guest. They were not used to having a guest here in the sewers with them for so long, especially not one as quiet as Samantha. When April met them, she quickly became part of the family, but once her stay officially began, Samantha immediately became very quiet. She was no longer as open as she was with Raphael when she accepted Splinter's offer to stay… and they all noticed. Just what had happened that changed her demeanor? Where would she go all day that whenever they walked into a room she was in, she would smile and quickly exit?

Raphael stirred gently in his hammock, awaking to the still silence of his room. He reached beneath his pillow and looked at his shell cell. _4 AM… man, you've gotta be kidding me…_ , Raphael thought to himself, knowing very well he would likely not go back to sleep again. Instead of willing his brain to turn off so that way he could get at least another hour of sleep, he rolled out of his hammock and grabbed his mask from the floor, tying it around his eyes as he made his way to the door. As he neared the exit to his room, he could faintly hear Samantha in the living room below, speaking in a hushed tone into a cellphone Donny had given her to be able to communicate with others outsides the lair, seeing as how her cellphone did not work down there. He stopped at the door and cracked it open just a sliver to be able to listen to Samantha below, hearing the distress in her voice.

"No… Danny, it's not that I don't want to come in. Please… I do want to come in, it's just the whole incident at my apartment, and you know what happened. That's not something I was able to control. Just give me until the end of the week so that way at least the bruising goes down around my face and then I'll go in. It's my first job since I got my license, I don't want to lose this. I promise I'll work really hard when I come back… Okay… yes… thanks Danny. You're the best! Talk to you later." Samantha hung up the phone and sighed, bringing the phone to her forehead as if trying to make some telepathic connection with it.

Raphael sighed. He knew that Samantha would get frustrated eventually being there in the sewers. He just didn't know it would be this quickly. He pushed the door open all the way and Samantha immediately got up on her knees and looked up at him, startled. He stopped at the balcony, looking down at her, giving her small smile. She nodded and smiled at him and quickly got up, blushing furiously as she forgot she had no pants on, just undies. Raphael lowered his eyes immediately to the floor, his face burning red, relieved he caught himself before he had another bloody incident like before. Once he heard the zipping of pants, Raphael slowly raised his eyes, catching Samantha hurriedly folding her futon to go put it away. _Not today ya don't,_ Raphael thought as he leapt from the balcony, walking up to Samantha casually, who was trying to run to the closet to return the futon. Raphael stepped in front of her, taking the futon from her hands, "I got ya."

Samantha smirked, "What a gentleman… I could do that you know." She stuck out her hip and put her hand on it.

Raphael frowned, "I'm sure ya can. But why don't ya jus' lemme be a good host? How 'bout it?" He walked over to the closet in the corner, which was just a simple abandoned locker they had picked up from the dump, opened the door and placed the futon on the top shelf. "Oh wait… should I put this on the bottom since you're so sh-?" A pillow made contact with his face, once it fell, Samantha was directly in his face, standing on her tiptoes and her chest puffed out.

"Don't tease me about my height sir. I'll start by taking out your ankles and work my way up." She smiled and picked up the pillow from the floor, stuffing it into the locker behind him.

Raphael's eyes narrowed at her as she began to walk away to who knows where, it sure wasn't the bathroom, that much was obvious, "Where are you going at this hour ma'am?"

Samantha stopped mid-sway of her hips and looked over her shoulder at Raphael, "Nowhere… just… out of the way."

Raphael sighed, making his way over to her and standing in front of her, making her take a step back, "You're not in the way. Sam… You don't talk to any of us… you don't even talk to me… what's going on?"

Samantha dropped her gaze from his, feeling extremely vulnerable, her eyes always betrayed her, "Nothing. I don't get what makes you think…"

"Because we don't talk. The night we met… it's like we were always friends or something and now…"

"Raph… we are friends… I don't know anyone who wasn't a friend who would invite me into their home like this… especially in this situation." Samantha looked up at him, he stood at least a foot above her, but her gaze was sharp, making him feel as though he was answering to her, "I just don't like being in the way and when I decide to go back up there… I don't want someone trying to talk me into… into…" Samantha looked down and clenched her fists.

Raphael immediately knew what she was speaking of and he frowned, "Sam… that last time ya tried takin' 'em on your own… you… look what happened! Imagine ya go back out there with your first thought bein' revenge? What do ya think that will get ya?"

Samantha's eyes were filled with anger and determination, they pierced through Raphael's like knives, "Freedom from those pieces of shit… strength…"

Raphael sighed, "Sam… ya can't get stronger looking for revenge…. And you're not going to get by 'em just on those boxing skills of yours."

"What?!" Samantha raised her voice, her cheeks becoming flushed with frustration.

Raphael lost his patience with her for the first time ever, he lowered his voice to a dangerous growl, "You heard me…"

Samantha did not back away, she continued to glare at him, "Fine….alright Raph..."

They stood there in silence for a while, who knew for how long. A door was being open and closed on the balcony behind Samantha and they both turned, watching as Leonardo stepped out from his room and made his way to the restroom, soon followed by Mikey coming out of his own room, yawning and scratching his plastron and Donny coming out of his and making his way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Samantha turned back to Raphael, eyes still narrowed with frustration at him. Raphael glared back at her, equally frustrated, the vein bulging in his temple. She nodded at him and walked away, leaving him standing there with his mouth full of more things to say to her but unable to. He rubbed his temple, feeling a migraine coming along before he turned around and made his way to the dojo. Training was going to start soon anyway.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't do this anymore Leo! My legs… they're giving out!" Michelangelo whined, mid-kick. He sat on the ground and removed the 20 lb. weight from his ankle, wincing and attempting to rub away the soreness.

"Keep going Mikey!" Leonardo ducked as Raphael flung a slow fist at him, the weight on Raph's wrist slowed Raph down considerably, making it easy for Leo to duck beneath his swing. Coming up from his crouched position proved difficult, however, as the weighted vest he wore threatened to bring him to the floor. He managed to get up, and countered with his own hook shot as Raph had taken a quick second to try and catch his breath.

Donatello grunted as he attempted to do another pullup, the weights proving to be almost more than he could take, "Mikey… just stop whining… it's more painful that way…"

"Ha, what's wrong Mike? Can't handle… it?" Raphael stopped suddenly, allowing Leo a chance to land his fist square against his jaw, sending him flying towards the wall.

Leo stopped, huffing and puffing, turning to look in the direction Raph was distracted by. His eyes widened. Splinter sat at the far side of the dojo as usual, watching them practice. Now, Splinter was joined by Samantha, who kneeled before him with her head bowed low. Leo walked over to Raphael who was ripping his weights off and watching as Samantha raised her head, speaking to Master Splinter in a low voice. Samantha and Master Splinter had not spoken since his invitation into their home, as Samantha was always scarce around the lair. To see Samantha in the same room as they were and speaking with their father was truly strange. Raph stood from the floor, his eyes still wide and mouth hanging open in shock, he had not realized that all the three of his brothers now joined him in staring at the sight before them. For a while Samantha and Master Splinter spoke back and forth in quiet discussion, Master Splinter's face serious. Just as Raph's curiosity was getting to him, enough to make him ask what they were discussing, Samantha smiled and bowed low to Master Splinter again. Master Splinter bowed in return, stood from his area, bowed toward his children, dismissing himself and left. Samantha turned to them, smiled and jogged over. Raphael looked her up and down as she made her way towards them. Samantha was dressed in a tank, sweatpants and sneakers. This was, hopefully, not about to be the situation he was now hoping to avoid.

Samantha stopped in front of Leo, who had a look of complete confusion on his face, and bowed, "Leo, Master Splinter says that with your permission I may train with you in the art of ninjutsu." Samantha kept her head low, not paying any attention to the other turtle's exclamations of surprise, "Please accept me as your student."

The boys were flabbergasted. They had no clue that Splinter would allow another outsider into their world of martial arts. Splinter did like Samantha. She quickly learned how to show their Master respect and Splinter respected her in return for learning how to show it in his language, but they never thought he would like her so much as to allow her to practice their ninja ways. Even April was not so quickly welcomed to learn the ninja arts but here was Samantha… given the blessing to become another student. Leo couldn't even find the words. It was not long ago that Splinter had stepped down and named him Master over his brothers. Now Splinter was giving him a new student? Leo swallowed thickly. He didn't know what to say. He just felt so nervous that he was now Master to a completely new pupil. Of course he was going to train her, he couldn't tell her no now that Splinter gave her his permission to learn.

"No."

Samantha looked up, surprised, quickly becoming angry that it was not Leo who answered her, but Raph. She looked away from him and kept her eyes focused on Leo, "I was asking Leonardo, Raphael."

"And I'm giving him some advice and telling him that 'no' would be the best answer." Raph leaned over into her view of Leo, feeling himself get frustrated all over again, "Leo, to let her train with us is not a good idea. She's looking to take the Dragons down on her own. If you train her…"

"I can teach her discipline, "Leonardo pointed out and looked at Raphael, the look on his face saying he was really considering talking Samantha as a student.

"Leo, you're kidding me right? You didn't see what I saw. They almost killed her." Raphael clenched his fists, standing between Sam and Leo, glaring at Sam who did not lower her eyes from his.

"Wow… that's a tough call. I don't think it will hurt Raph. I mean, she's gotta have something under her belt. Boxing is not much good against anything. I mean… what is she going to do with that?" Mike spoke matter-of-factly, crossing his arms and nodding at Raphael.

"WHAT?!" Samantha turned to look at Mikey, a flame in her eyes.

Almost immediately, Leo, Don and Raph shrank away, watching as Samantha stepped up to Michelangelo, who was completely oblivious to the obvious insult he gave Samantha. Mikey looked down at Samantha, unaware that she was absolutely furious with him, "What? It's true. Boxing isn't useful. Kickboxing might get you farther, but even that… I don't know."

"You!" Samantha stomped her foot and threw her face in Mikey's, making him flinch, "How dare you?! Boxing got me by in many ways, no just one. I want to learn ninjutsu. Boxing has built my strength and determination. It is an amazing art and I will use its foundation to make me a great ninja! Just like how I used it to help me learn everything else!"

Mikey stood there silently for a few seconds, all the other turtles held their breath and hoped he would be smart enough to keep his mouth shut. But seeing that it was Mikey, it was very unlikely. Mikey blinked, "Ninjutsu is art… boxing isn't going to help you learn anything. I don't think any training you've had is going to make this easy…"

Raphael, Donatello and Leonard all backed away from Mikey slowly, ready for him to go flying through the air. Samantha let out a frustrated yell and began to pull her hair back into a ponytail. Mikey simply blinked at her. The others weren't even sure if Mikey even noticed just how infuriated Sam was with him at the moment and that Samantha was readying herself to mess him up. Samantha finished tying up her hair and kicked off her shoes. She backed away from Mike to the middle of the dojo where the floor was padded and got into her boxing stance. Don, Raph and Leo all let out a collective sigh. Whichever direction this was going, it wasn't going to end favorably for either Mikey or Sam. Most likely Sam, as Mikey took it upon himself to tease his opponents, opponents who were hotheads like Raph, and make them feel absolutely ridiculous being defeated by him. Mikey smiled, enjoying the attention. Mikey ripped off the weights he still had on his wrists and ankles and jumped over onto the mat with Samantha.

Mikey stretched his arms and legs, a huge smile still on his face, "Alright, how do you want to do this?"

"Mikey, get your ass out of there. Ya don't want to-." Raph started but was immediately cut off by Samantha snapping at him.

"Stay out of this Raph!" Samantha glowered at him and turned back to Mikey. "We can do a five minute match. Each time a blow is landed, points are awarded-!"

"Nah! Come on! I'm not hitting a girl!" Mikey chuckled. The other turtles' heads all fell in embarrassment. Mikey kept saying all the wrong things to get him into a deeper and deeper shithole.

Every vein in Samantha's head throbbed, She cracked her knuckles, "Michelangelo, you don't know anything about me… my gender has nothing to do with…"

"I'll tell you what! How about if you're able to hit me at all… the match is yours! And Leo HAS to take you as a student!" Mikey motioned behind him at Leo whose eyes shifted back and forth between them nervously.

Samantha's stood there biting her lip so hard she thought it would bleed, then she drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes, her face immediately becoming relaxed and serious before she raised her fists once again, "Alright. Ready?"

Mikey smiled and crouched low into a grappling stance, "So rea-ready?!" Mike jolted backwards, Samantha catching him off guard with her quick ability to be able to close the distance between them.

Samantha's heavy swing missed him by a fraction of second, she could just barely feel his breath on her fist. She did not focus on it for long, and continued to throw blow after blow at Mike who was dodging every single one. Mikey was still, unfortunately, much faster than Sam. Seeing as how she was not going to land a blow on Mike any time soon, Sam attempted to distract Mike with jab to his right side while readying herself to throw a roundhouse kick to his left. Mike blocked the jab and effectively grabbed a hold of Samantha's leg as she swung it around to his left side. Samantha let out a gasp as Mikey pulled her leg forward, grabbing her arm and pinning her to the mat. Mike kept her pinned for a second before Sam grabbed the hand that kept her pinned against the mat and wrapped her free leg around Mikey's arm. Sam brought her fist above his arm and was ready to start landing blows on it before Mikey pulled his arm back, Sam being so light and tiny, he was able to bring her up off the ground for a second, making her stop and jump to her feet.

Mikey jumped backward, away from her and smiling, "Whoa, you almost had me that time. You're fast!" Mikey sidestepped another jab from Samantha, giving her a push from behind, nearly making her fall forward, "Not too fast though!"

Raphael and the others stood there, watching the fight unfold. Samantha was visibly becoming fatigued as Mikey kept evading her kicks and punches. They all wondered just how much longer Samantha could keep up with Mike. Out of the four of them, Mike had the most stamina and a joke never got old to Mike. He could probably keep this up all day if he wanted to. If he did, what would happen to Sam? Raphael snapped out of his train of thought as Sam's back, once again, met the mat. Mikey let her go immediately and jumped back, letting Sam get to her feet and catch her breath. Leo and Don looked at each other, Sam looked so exhausted, all her energy was going into trying to keep up with Mikey. Mikey kept evading her and they knew that by the time, even they would be frustrated. However, aside from the heavy breathing, Samantha still looked calm and collected, planning her next plan of action.

Mikey smiled at her, "You were so close that time. Come on girl! Just one! Can you manage that?"

Samantha smirked, panting, "You… you know…you really are fast. Bet you might be faster than your brothers…"

Leo, Don and Raph looked at each other, all caught off guard by the insult on their skills.

Mikey grinned, "Yeah, I am. Glad someone noticed."

Samantha, bent over, hands on her knees, trying to breathe, "Are you smarter too? Just tell me… what else can you do better than the other guys? Bet you are smarter…"

Mikey's grin by this point was so wide it could almost split his face, he threw a glance over his shoulder at the guys who were standing there, looking annoyed, "Maybe…just a little-!"

Samantha slid on her side towards Mikey's legs quickly while he was distracted, wrapping her arms around them and bringing him to the floor with her. Mikey's shell slammed onto the mat, shocking him and knocking the air out of his chest. Samantha's eyes went dark and the others watched in amazement as Samantha quickly turned Mike onto his stomach, Mikey not being to fight back at all from shock. Samantha somehow managed to wrap her arms around Mikey as he lay there, face flat against the mat and, much to their astonishment, she lifted him as she stood, the back of his head almost cushioned against her breasts and his legs high above them, wriggling in the air. Leonardo suddenly found his voice as he realized that Samantha was ready to suplex Mikey from where she stood, "Wait! Sam!"

Sam smiled and looked at Leo, "Don't worry, I've got his head cushioned, if it wasn't for the shell though, his spine would be destroyed!" She dropped down onto her bottom, the mat making a dull thud as Mikey's body was finally released from Samantha's arms. Mikey fell forward, his eyes spinning his head. He was not going to get up for a while. Samantha panted and gently tapped Mike's shoulder with her fist, "There… I hit you…" She fell backward onto the mat, breathing heavily, "That'll… teach you… to question what I learned again…"

Donatello jumped onto the mat and grabbed their unconscious brother, dragging him into a corner of the dojo before proceeding to slap him repeatedly in the face to wake him up, "Hey, you goof! You lost!"

Raphael and Leo made their way to Samantha who still lay on the floor, exhausted. Leo looked down at her and coughed, "Um… training starts tomorrow at 5 in the morning. I want an hour with you alone before the others start their training. Need to start from the beginning. Got it?"

Samantha closed her eyes and nodded in agreement, "Yes sir."

Leo bowed, "Good. Um.. good job. I will see you in the morning."

Raphael grabbed Samantha by the hand and helped her up, he frowned, "Got what you want now… happy?"

Samantha looked at him and smiled, "Very."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, Mikey sat on the couch around the TV in the living room with the others. He held an ice pack to his head as he still felt headaches from his spar with Sam. Raphael couldn't help but be amused at how Michelangelo took his beating and teased Mike about it every five minutes. Their TV show was almost over when Samantha came walking into the living room, freshly showered, dressed in a big t-shirt and shorts. They all turned to look at her, shocked she would show her face in the same room as them twice in the same day. Samantha's face became beet red as she felt uneasy from their stares. She coughed and they immediately snapped out their stares. They turned back to the TV.

Samantha stared at her feet, "Um… is it ok… if I join you guys?"

Raphael nearly jumped out of his shell from surprise. Samantha was actually asking to be with them? He looked around at the others and they all nodded together. Samantha took the empty seat next to Raphael and focused her attention on the TV, from what it looked like, forcefully. For a few minutes, they all sat there in awkward silence watching TV, until one by one the turtles began to dismiss themselves for the night. Except for Raphael. For what seemed like several minutes, Raphael and Samantha sat there in silence, staring anxiously at the TV. Raphael's anxiety began to kill him and just as he was about to dismiss himself as well for the night, Samantha placed a hand on his arm.

"Wait… Raph… before you go…," Samantha looked to the side, keeping her eyes away from Raph as much as possible, "I'm sorry… for before. When you said you noticed I wasn't close much anymore. I just… don't want you guys getting too involved with my issues once I go back to the surface."

Raphael frowned and squeezed the hand on his arm, "Sam, it's too late, you're part of us now. We are friends." 

"I just don't want you getting hurt, "Sam let go of his arm and placed it in her lap, "For some reason… everyone around me gets hurt. I like you guys… I don't want that to be you guys too… When you went back for me in that fire… I don't know. I just don't want you putting yourself in danger for me like that again."

Raphael looked down at her, the blush on her cheeks making his heart swell, "I did it because I wanted to. I don't want you to get hurt either…"

They looked at each other and smiled, their faces flushed. After several moments of just staring at each other, Raphael also dismissed himself after helping Sam set up her sleeping area. Raphael walked to his room and glanced back at Sam, who he noticed had followed his movement all the way up the stairs. She blushed and lay down. Raph smiled, entering his room and closing the door behind him.

To be continued….


	8. Chapter 7

For the next few days, Mikey was not difficult to wake up in the morning. In fact, he was one of the very first to get up by five in the morning and was in the dojo before Raph could get there. Mikey's new morning routine was thanks very much to Leonardo's new pupil, whom Mikey enjoyed to see struggle through the basics of ninjutsu. Samantha was very tough but she easily grew frustrated when she was unable to perform a basic maneuver perfectly in the first attempt. Boxing had helped her dramatically in building her willpower but it was loud and aggressive. So for her first lessons, Leo had decided they would begin with her footwork, the way she should step and how to use the environment around her. This proved very difficult for Samantha as she was not accustomed to blindsiding her opponents and never needed to keep her footsteps silent.

This morning, Leo had cut off all the lights and the dojo was pitch black. Raph walked up behind Mikey, who sat at the entrance of the dojo, staring into the darkness, listening for Samantha's movements in the dark. Raph winced. Detecting Sam's movements was not difficult at all. Mikey bit his lip to stifle his laughter. While Samantha was not as loud as she usually was when she was fighting before, she certainly was anything but ninja-like. Her footsteps were still heavy and her breathing was still rapid from anxiety. Samantha's position within the dojo was obvious. What wasn't obvious was where Leo was.

"AH!" A cry came from within the dojo, followed by a dull thud. Mikey broke out into laughter and Raphael slapped his forward. They now knew where Leo was. The lights came back on and they turned to look at Donatello who looked as equally unimpressed as Leo, who was standing above Samantha who was laying on the floor on her back. Leo frowned at her and helped her up. Samantha sighed and lowered her head, embarrassed.

"Sam, your footsteps are still way too heavy. I taught you how to step! Then your breathing is so loud. You need to slow down. Shrink away into the darkness. Just…"

"I know. I'm sorry. I just get so anxious. I don't know how to deal with it."

Leo looked at her sympathetically before becoming serious again. She was his student and if no one else received pity from him, then she wouldn't either, "I don't take excuses. It's six. I need to focus on the others. You will work on your strength and agility again. Before you are dismissed, I want you to meditate. That should help you with you breathing." He sighed, "We're going to get this."

Samantha bowed, "Yes, Master." She ran off to a corner of the dojo, grabbed the weighted vest they had worn earlier in the week, put it on along with the wrist weights and ankle weights. She brought her bottom low to the ground and hopped off the balls of her feet. Jumping squats were the worse for her.

Leo turned away from her and looked at the others who all looked serious but Mikey who still couldn't help but smile that she was struggling. Leo glared at Mikey before a sly smile broke out on his face, Mikey immediately became silent, but it was too late. Leo crossed his arms and nodded toward another pair of weights on the floor. Mikey groaned and Leo pointed a firm finger towards them before demanding, "Now." Mikey picked up the weights and put them on, pouting throughout the whole process. Once he had the weights on, Mikey stood in front of Leo, awaiting his next instruction. It wasn't long before Leo also had Mikey working on building his strength along with his balance by standing atop a pole, on one foot, holding out buckets of water that he dared not to spill. Leo, Raph and Don, meanwhile, all practiced their weapons skills.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Leonardo dismissed them all around 9 AM, Mikey dripping sweat from being moved from task to tedious task while wearing the weights. Samantha had planted herself in a solitary corner of the dojo by the end of their session, cross-legged, hands in her lap, eyes closed and looking peaceful. The others took off while Raphael trailed behind, as usual, to lift weights and punch the bag a while to practice his form. Raph went to his own side of the dojo, looking at Samantha from the corner of his eye. About a half hour into his session with the bag, he forgot about Sam, not realizing she had left her area of the dojo. He continued to throw punch after punch at the bag, only feeling the stretch in his arms.

"Hey Raph?" Sam grabbed the punching bag from the opposite side of Raph and poked her head out from behind it.

Raph stopped mid-swing, startled and annoyed, "Sam, damn it! You have the same bad habit as Mikey."

Sam frowned, moving out from behind the bag to stand in front of Raph, "Don't compare me to that nerd." She smiled seeing Raph's look of disapproval at her insulting his brother, "It's ok, he likes it when I call him that."

It was true, in the past few days, Sam had begun to open up more and more to Raph and his brothers. Mikey and Sam had made up since the incident where Sam beat Mikey. However, the story was different every time it was brought up, but every time it was brought up, the ending was the same… Mikey let Samantha win. Anyway, at least that's what Mikey said. The story would always result in an argument between the two but it was clear that they were now very close friends. Leo, of course, was Sam's teacher in the morning but later in the evening the two would almost always find time to discuss ancient Japanese stories, literature, art… anything about Japanese culture that Sam wanted to know. Then there was Sam's interesting relationship with Don. Sam had stated since Don had given her a cell phone that would work in the sewers, that she was anything about tech savvy. However, Sam seemed to love to hear Don talk about his inventions, sometimes offering him her help which he would refuse because being alone with her would make him uncomfortable. He did see her naked after all. Raph's time with her, was her favorite, however. Many times after practice, Samantha stayed behind with Raphael in the dojo, where they would spar, lift weights and help her practice her skills. They would even chat here and there, play and joke with each other. Raph, himself, didn't even realize just how much he enjoyed it.

"Anyway, what did you need? Hold the bad for me will you?" Raph waited for her to grab a hold of the bag before proceeding to punch it, with more force this time.

"So… I've been kind of distracted… ," Sam held the bag firmly, grunting lightly at the force of Raph's swings, "And… I need help… I don't think I can keep this to myself." Sam's voice became soft and she hugged the bag tightly, making Raph stop.

"Sam?" Raph, pulled the bag to the side and looked at Sam, who stood there, hands still on the bag, eyes to the floor.

"Raph... I need to go back to work...," Sam blushed and stayed quiet, waiting for Raph to react.

Raph stayed quiet for a moment, staring blankly at her before walking away with a simple but firm, "No."

Sam darted out in front of him, holding her hands up and trying to keep him from walking away from her, "Wait, Raph. Please… hear me out. I can't lose this job."

"Is your job more important than your life? You're crazy. I'm not helping you." Raph sidestepped around Sam and continued to make his way out of the dojo. Just as he was about to exit, Sam ran in front of him and wrapped her arms, as best she could, around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Raph stopped dead in his tracks, his heart raced.

"Raph, please… I… I just got this job. I'm a nurse in a new graduate program. I JUST got my license not too long ago. I worked so hard. I don't want to lose this opportunity." She looked up at him, her eyes pleading, "You don't know what I went through to get this… working at the gym, doing part time work at the subway and school and just…. Struggling. I JUST got hired here. Please. It's only 3 days a week. I'll work nights, you can walk me and pick me up, I'll arrange something with Leo. No one will know I'm there. Please?"

Raph nearly melted with those eyes of hers and he gently pushed her away, staring at her sympathetically, "You're a nurse? How noble… let me… think about it. Ok?"

Samantha smiled and hugged him again, making him shake in his shell, "Thank you."

Raphael frowned, she already knew he was going to start taking her to work, "So smug." He walked away.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Pizza, please!" Samantha shouted out in a singsong voice, sitting atop the counter in the kitchen with a huge grin on her face as Mikey tossed her the box of pizza.

"Mike! That's my pizza! Give her some of yours!" Raph grunted, making his way to Samantha who held the pizza high above her head, a gooey slice in between her teeth.

"No way Jose! Let her share with you this time!" Mikey pulled a slice out of his box, rolled it up and put it in his mouth. "I ha' to sher wib her lass time." He stated with his mouth full and hugged the pizza box to his chest.

Raphael frowned, trying to snatch the box out of Sam's hands, being unsuccessful every time, "How is it that your reflexes are better when you're hungry? Give me that box, chunky!"

Samantha frowned and jumped over Raph, much to his surprise, running behind Leo and Don who were the only two sitting at the table eating their pizza liked civilized individuals. Sam finished chewing her slice and stuck her tongue out at Raph, "Who are you calling chunky, fatty? You got the meat lover's! It's my FAVE! Share!"

Leo rolled his eyes, "I think next time we should just get individuals pizzas instead of expecting us to share with one more person."

Don grinned, still chewing his slice, speaking in between bites, "I think four pizzas is enough, Sam just likes hogging attention."

Sam frowned and pressed her weight on Don's head, making him groan from the strain on his neck, "Careful Donny! I was beginning to think you were the cool brother… eep!"

Raphael ran up from behind Sam, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her into the air, "Got ya! Hand over the pizza, thunder thighs!"

Sam kicked her legs in the air, gripping the pizza box tightly, "AH! Ok! Ok! Put me down Mr. Cellulite!"

He laughed and lifted her higher, "What's the magic word, turkey neck?!"

"AH! RAPH! It's 'NOW'! Let me down triple chin!" Samantha wriggled and kicked, making Raph lose his grip. He used his own body to cushion her fall and she fell on him, her legs straddling him and her face dangerously close to his.

Raph blushed and quickly shoved her off of him, standing up, "See?! You should have just handed over the pizza!" He quickly exited the room, everyone staring at the frustrated and embarrassed expression on his face.

Sam looked as equally embarrassed but not for the same reason Raph was, "Raph… I'm sorry… here. Take it. I'm done anyway."

Raph snatched the box from her hands and ran to his bedroom, slamming his door shut behind. Mikey looked at Sam sympathetically, helping her up from the floor and opening his pizza box to her, "You can have some of mine, Sammy."

Sammy smiled at him sadly, "Thanks Mikey."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Knock, knock_

"Mm?" Raph stirred in his sleep. _Who… what is that?_

 _Knock, knock._

There was a knock at his door and Raph groaned. He looked at the clock in the corner of his room, immediately becoming annoyed. _It's four in the morning…. You're kidding me…_ Raph rolled out of his hammock, grabbing his mask from the floor before he walked over to the door, cracking it open just a slight. "What do you…? Sam?"

Sam stood there in the doorway, looking tiny in a pair of black scrubs that looked to be a size too big. She adjusted the bag on her back and smiled at Raph, "Good morning."

"Um… Good morning… why are you up so early? Where did you get those scrubs?"

Sam looked herself up and down, "I've had these. I know… they're kind of big but they were all I can afford at the time. I'll see if I can make some adjustments. But… I'm supposed to go to work remember? It's just two days of orientation to the hospital Raph and I swear I go to night shift after this ok?"

Raph frowned, "Sam… seriously… what did you tell Leo?"

"I just told him I needed to go to April's for today and I'll make it up to him tonight. Just… Please?"

"Ok… Fine." He closed the door behind him and started walking Sam through the sewers to the emergency hospital.

For a while, they walked in silence. Raph still felt very uncomfortable. Last night was unbelievably embarrassing. He had not lost his cool just once with Samantha, but twice. The longer Sam stayed with them, the more and more Raphael realized just how attracted he was to her. He threw her a sideways glance as they walked, taking note of the delicate features of her face and the glow of her eyes as they passed beneath the rays of light entering the sewers through the grates from the street. He felt his face get hot again. Having her on top of him last night awakened a fire in his belly and made his nether regions stir like they never had before. He knew that she was beautiful and he has seen beauty before in magazines and TV but nothing could explain his attraction to this girl. This girl had him in such a fluster last night that he had to quickly escape the room to hide the growing desire in his groin. An hour or two of ignoring said feeling brought him back down again but his subconscious was not done with him yet. He awoke later that night, fully at attention and couldn't ignore it anymore. His dreams of Sam writhing beneath him and begging for more of his desire made him ache and he quickly began to stroke himself to relieve the discomfort, the release was much needed. He shook his head and bit his lip, willing those thoughts away as he could feel himself get excited again.

"Raph?" Sam spoke softly as they neared the tunnel exit by the hospital.

Raph stopped in front of the ladder ascending to the sewer lid and gestured for her to begin climbing, "Yeah, Sam?"

Samantha's head fell, she felt rushed, as if he wanted to just be rid of her. She placed her foot on the ladder and began to climb, "I want to say sorry for last night. Huh?" Sam was pulled back down by the scrub top by an annoyed looking Raph and he stepped in front of her and began climbing.

"I should go first to make sure the coast is clear." He stopped for a moment to calm his breathing, his forehead against a step of the ladder. He had to stop Sam as he had not realized his sensitively horny state that he would not be able to watch her ascend those steps without staring at her ass and wanting to grab a handful.

"Oh… Um… Ok. Um… Raph. I'm really sorry." Sam began to ascend the steps after him.

"For?" Raph lifted the sewer lid a crack, peeking around to make sure the coast was clear, the hospital was still a blocked away, but this was the closest they could get without being spotted. This area was always busy.

"For messing around too much… and being annoying."

Raph looked down at her, the blush on her cheeks made her so cute even when embarrassed, "Annoying?"

"I just… haven't had a brother in a long time. I just don't know how to react. So I get annoying and act up."

The last comment felt like stab in Raph's chest. She was like a little sister… at least she considered them her brothers and he was so sick that he was whacking off to thoughts of her bouncing up and down on his dick naked. He looked down ashamed before he helped her up and out of the tunnel, "its ok. We haven't had a little sister. April is more like a big sister… so we forget just how delicate we have to be with them sometimes."

Sam smiled and looked at the hospital, "Dellicate? Jerk…Ok… well… thanks Raph. See you at 7:30 pm? Here?"

"Just wait at the front of the hospital where security can see you. I'll signal you when I get here."

"Ok… wish me luck." Samantha walked off briskly towards the hospital, keeping vigilant of her surroundings.

"Luck." Raphael watching until she disappeared into the building. He jumped down from the ladder and began to make his way back to the lair, never had he looked more forward to working out. He needed to keep his mind off of things now….

To be continued….


	9. Chapter 8

For many days, Raphael attempted to avoid Samantha as much as possible outside of taking her in and out of the lair to work. However, as hard as he tried, luck would find them almost inseparable at times. Once Samantha finished her round in the morning as a nurse, the hospital switched her to nocturnal orientation, everyday Leo would wonder where she had been and became annoyed and suspicious that she and Raph would show up for training late each day. As punishment, Leo would give her tasks that pit her against Raph and make Raph grind his teeth through training her. Not that training Samantha was particularly painful, it just defeated the purpose of having him physically avoid her. That…. And she was now finally beginning to advance in her skills rather quickly.

"Aren't you missing something?" Samantha gave Raphael a cheeky smile as she flipped the lights back on in the dojo, twirling one of Raph's sai in her hand, the other attached to his belt which was slung over her shoulder.

Raph's eyes snapped to his own waist in disbelief that she could actually relieve him of his weapon, "Ya smug little…"

Sam grinned, making her way over to Raph, "Don't worry. I won't keep them." She handed him his sai and started to walk away before she stopped, looking over her shoulder and tossing him two small objects that jingled through the air.

Raph caught them with one hand, a corner of his mouth lifting in annoyance as he looked at the two small bells she handed to him. Her only objective of the exercise was to retrieve them from him without making noise or announcing her presence. Mikey snickered in a corner and Donatello couldn't help but smile in amusement. Raph shot them a dirty look, "Whatta ya laughin' at?"

Mikey quickly hushed up and returned practicing his kicks, "Nothing!"

Donatello returned to training with his staff, "She's getting good quick."

Raph watched as she walked towards Leo, Sam was quickly learning and he couldn't tell just why or what it was that made such a change in her progression. Leo talked to her for a moment and led her towards Donatello. Leo spoke to Donatello for a moment before he walked away to continue training with his katana. Donatello smiled gently at Sam before he out his bo staff away and began to show her fighting stances. _I guess it's time for her to move on_ , Raphael thought sadly and he went about his business, being particularly more aggressive with his punching bag today.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After training and a shower, Raphael sat in his hammock in his room, not wanting to be outside anywhere that Samantha could find him. He needed to be alone with his thoughts. The fantasies of he and Sam being together sexually did not leave him and it frustrated him beyond belief. From what he could tell, they were just very good friends and she really did see them as brothers. However, he couldn't help himself. Just recently during one of their conversations as he walked her to work, he noticed that she had very, very light freckles on her face and it killed him. He had never noticed it before but it just made her that much cuter. Raph groaned as the image flashed across his mind and he put his hand over his face, willing for it to go away.

A knock came at his door, "Raph…?"

 _Aw… geez…_ Raph thought to himself as the very last person he wanted to see knocked on his door again, _Should I pretend to be asleep?_ "Yeah?" _I must be outta my mind…_

"Can I come in?"

"Sure."

Sam opened the door slightly and stepped in, looking over her shoulder as she did so, "Raph…"

"Oh no… sounds like you're asking for another favor….," Raphael sat up in his hammock, trying only to look her in the eyes.

Sam bit the inside of her cheek, "I'm sorry." Sam looked down at her feet and fidgeted with her hands. She was freshly showered and dressed in tiny yoga shorts and a tank top.

Raph's face became soft, "Go for it, kid. What do ya need?"

Sam looked up blushing, "I… started falling asleep while trying to play some video games with Mike… I don't work tonight… is it ok if I just take a quick nap in here and then I can sleep in my usual spot tonight? Just so I can last the whole day? I don't want them getting more suspicious."

Raph's heart dropped. _Sam? Sleep? In my room? What did I do that makes it seem that someone up there hates me?_ "Sam… Ya have to say somethin'. Leo is already askin'. He's not stupid."

"I know… I will. But not yet. Please? Can I sleep here?" She looked up at him, her face really looked tired.

Raph paused for a second and sighed, "Fine. Here." He moved to get up from the hammock but Sam put her hand up.

"I'm not moving you from your bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"No. It's fine take it."

"No."

They both glared at each other before Samantha smiled innocently, "Fine. Scoot over."

"Wait? What?" Raphael slapped a hand over his nose as she climbed into the hammock on top of him, laying her head on his stomach and wrapping his arm around his waist. Blood dribbled from in between his fingers, feeling her breasts just above his nether regions.

Samantha cuddled him, her eyes drifting closed, "You didn't scoot over… I think this is fair compromise."

"Sam… what if the guys come in?" His heart pounded loudly in his chest, the blood rose to his face as he fought to keep control of the rest of his body. How she couldn't hear his heart was beyond him.

"They won't. I told them you were going to go show me your bike. I just need two hours. I'll set my watch… then you can really go show me your bike." Sam looked up at him with a soft smile, set her watch and drifted off to sleep.

Raph sat there, biting his lip wondering just how he hadn't lost complete control and thrown Sam out of his room. He felt sorry. She was beyond exhausted. Since she started nights, she would sleep a few hours, hiding in different places, work and then train when she got her. She hardly got rest. Raph looked down at her, the curly hair on her head still slightly damp from her shower, he ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. He stopped and looked at his own three-fingered hand, becoming saddened. Even if Sam didn't think of them as family, the chances of him ever becoming more than just a friend was zero to none. She was this gorgeous girl with her life on the right track and going places. He… well… he was a freak. Maybe family was better than nothing and he should just be satisfied. He let out a sigh and listened to Sam's gentle breathing. He wiped the blood from his nose, feeling a little ashamed with himself again. He continued to stare at the beautiful girl who lay there in his arms, his heart still beating strongly, he watched the rhythm of her breathing until it became mesmerizing and he found himself drifting to sleep as well.

Two hours passed fairly quickly as Sam jumped, startled at the beeping of her watch. Raph nearly rolled onto the floor from surprise. Sam silenced her watch and let out a sigh, she looked at Raph, a large grin on her face, "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Raph rubbed his eyes, letting out a groan, "You didn't look too calm yourself."

Sam frowned and she nudged the hammock, tipping Raph out of it and onto the floor, "It's almost one. Come on. You should probably show me your bike now."

"Let's not and say we did." Raph grit his teeth, accepting Sam's hand to help him up.

"Don't be grumpy." Sam grinned, "Let's go." She walked to his door, peeked her head out and motioned for him to follow before she left.

He sighed, he couldn't understand why he couldn't resist her and it frustrated him. He followed closely behind her, watching her hips sway as she walked. He wiped his nose again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Samantha sat atop his motorcycle, spraying polish over the front fairing and wiping it down with a rag, "It's a beautiful bike Raph."

Raph couldn't help but stare at the curve of her back as she sat on the bike, reaching over the bar to polish the front of the bike. She was a girl that he would have to have on the back of his bike if he could. He coughed and returned to checking the brake lines, "Yeah, um… Donny gave it to me."

She looked down at him and smiled, "Really? He's a good brother…"

Raphael avoided her look, "Yeah. So… what was your brother like?"

Sam's smile became sad as she continued to rub the polish onto the bike, "I loved my brother. He was good to me… there was only ever one time we fought so hard that he made me hurt. I believed… if he had the choice, he would trade my life for my mom's… but he took care of me. He just made stupid decisions."

Raph looked up at her, "Mm… Brothers."

"Yeah."

"Yo! Raph!"

They both turned to look, Casey making his way towards them with a huge grin on his face. He stopped when he saw Samantha and snickered at Raph. Raph frowned and blushed. He knew just what Casey had on his mind and Raph wanted to hear nothing of it. He tossed the rag Sam had in her hands in his face as he approached, making Casey chuckle. Sam jumped off the bike when she saw April stride in with the rest of the turtles and ran to her.

"April! Hey!" She ran up and threw her arms around April who hugged her in return, trying not to drop the bags in her hands.

"Hey Sam. How are you doing down here? Haven't seen you in a minute…," April stopped, the look on her face becoming one of annoyance as Sam lifted a finger to her lips to motion for her to be silent. "We'll talk."

Sam looked at the floor, embarrassed and nodded, "Yeah. Um…anyway, what are you guys doing here?"

"They're obviously here to see us and bring us gifts!" Mike nudged Sam out of the way and eyed the bags in April's hands.

"Mike!" Sam glared at him, elbowing him in the arm.

"Actually, Mike, this is some more of the stuff we were able to salvage from Sam's apartment." She handed the plastic bags to Sam, "Sorry. Anyway, Sam… the land lady isn't blaming you for what happened to the apartment. But she did want us to tell you that even though she doesn't hold you responsible, she doesn't want you to come back to the building for safety purposes. I'm sorry. She wants all your stuff removed from the apartment before the week ends."

The corner of Sam's mouth twitched, "Yeah… I understand. She was really sweet… if you could let her know I appreciate what she did for me."

"Of course. We'll figure this out, ok?" April put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "We actually came with news too. Something we need to talk about." She turned to look at the turtles and motioned for them to go back to their living room.

Leo nodded, "Come on. Let's go."

Sam began to follow them and Casey stepped in front of her, "Whoa… sorry. Sam, this is just for the guys."

Sam looked startled, "Wait… what? Why?"

April looked at her sternly, "Sam, this is strictly for them to hear only."

Sam bit her lip, "But I don't get it. You called all of them why can't I-?" She stopped and looked at Raph who placed a hand on her arm, looking at her sympathetically.

"It's ok. We'll come get you after." Raph sympathized with her. As the impulsive one, he was left out of many things as much as she was and he knew just how frustrating that was. She looked away from him and scoffed, clearly still angry but she let them go and stayed behind.

Once the others reached the living room, April and Casey sat down on the middle big couch, Donatello and Leo taking the two armchairs on either side, Raph and Mike sat on the big couch's armrests. Leo's eyes were somber as he leaned forward, trying to listen closely to what April was going to say. Instead, Casey was the one to speak.

Casey rubbed his chin and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "So, you know I still have my connections on the streets… It's been… what? Almost a month since Sam closed up shop for a minute? So I've been keeping an eye on things. Watching the gym. And like I thought, these purple shitheads can't do anything to it now that Sam isn't in the picture as far as making it their own and running it. BUT! I guess they're taking advantage of their youth now that she ain't there to protect them. They've targeted a few kids… a couple of them are good. I haven't seen them floating around their sorry kind. Others… there's this kid I KNOW Sam favors. He always talks about her. Kid comes from a poor family… gets picked on fairly regularly… typical target for bullying. So… these guys are lurking and word has it that they're having a street fighting tournament in Manhattan near Crosby Street Friday night. Back to their roots, huh? They're offering positions of 'power' to those who compete and are chosen. In short, they basically invited these kids to fight to the death with other poor dopes who just want something better than they have. Especially Austin. Spoke with his mom, she can't get him to talk to her, she thinks the bullying must have gotten worse. Kid came home without his shoes. Tried talking to him myself. Won't listen. That's why we don't want Sam knowing or she'll..."

"Flip?" Sam stepped out from behind the pillar on the second level of the lair. They all groaned and she jumped down from balcony, glaring at Casey.

Casey slapped his forehead, "Yeah… that."

Raphael looked at Leo, "You took her as your student. Look at what you taught her to do… Sneak up on us."

"How dare you keep this from me?!" Sam balled her hands into tight fists, her knuckles becoming white.

April stood, raising her hands in front of her, "Sam, what do you expect to do? You can't go out there. You're supposed to be laying low."

"But Austin! He's just fifteen!" Sam got dangerously close to April, her hand raised above her head. "You don't know him like I do! How dare you!" Raph grabbed Sam's hand and pushed her back into the armchair, making Donatello jump out of it to avoid getting sat on.

"And you can't do anything! Calm down! We'll figure this out. We'll stop it, but we just can't barge in there. There might be more going on than we know and if we go in there, guns blazing, we won't know what. Plus if they see you, what do you think they'll do to you. You're not exactly someone that can just waltz in and not stand out. They'll recognize you right away." Raphael stopped, feeling eyes on him. He turned around and everyone stared at him, was he really the one talking sense into someone else? He coughed and turned back to Sam.

Angry tears welled in Sam's eyes, "They're targeting my kids, Raph! It's my fault! You have to let me-!"

"NO!" Raph's voice vibrated throughout the lair, making even Splinter exit his room and look down at the startled faces on the floor below him.

For a moment there was silence, no one spoke as they didn't know if Sam would dare to argue with Raphael further or if they would further agitate the situation. Sam stood there, biting her lip, fighting back the tears. She jumped from the chair and shoved past Raphael, muttering under her breath, "Jerk." As soon as she was out of the room, Raph turned to Casey, "Alright… what's the game plan?" Upstairs, Splinter shook his head and slipped back into his room.

Casey cleared his throat, still feeling awkward, "Seeing as how we've tried having you sneak in before…. And they know my face…April should be the one to go in under cover… while the rest of us wait to ambush and maybe one waits to see if any of them scatter to other places like roaches. Find out where they're operating."

Raph's eyes narrowed, he still felt bad for yelling at Sam but it couldn't be helped. He already let her get away with so much, "Alright… how do we do this?"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Raph hadn't seen Sam for the rest of that evening, he didn't know where she had gone to and it made him worry. What if she ran off to do something stupid? He stepped out of his room and peeked over the railing of the balcony, catching a glimpse of Sam's form on the floor, sleeping in her usual spot. For a second, he thought of going to her and apologizing, but thought better of it. She was probably still very angry, so he closed the door and waited for morning.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh my…," Mike barely breathed out.

Raph turned to where he was looking and he almost dropped pelted Don in the face with a shuriken out of shock.

Sam stepped through the opening of the dojo, her hair was cut short at the sides, her massive curls sat at the top of her head in almost a pixie cut. She crossed her arms and looked around at the boys staring at her. She grabbed whatever hair she had left on the top of her head and pulled it into a ponytail. She looked very much like a very pretty guy, "What?"

Mike was the first to speak, "What demon crawled into you and possessed you to do something like that to yourself, sis?!"

"I'm not recognizable… which means I can go in place of April now right?"

Raph tossed the shuriken at the wall, glaring at Sam. He walked up to her and looked down at her, standing nearly a foot above her, "No."

Sam stood her ground, "You can't stop me."

Raph didn't move or blink. He could tie her down… shut her in a closet…. But she would fight her way out no matter what, that was obvious now. He never thought that she would be willing to cut away her beautiful hair just to stop one of her students from making the biggest mistake of their lives. Leo walked towards them, about to intervene but Raph stepped past Sam, towards the exit, leaving Sam surprised, "You heard her, Leo. You can't stop her. You may as well make sure she knows enough so she doesn't do something stupid to get herself killed."

Sam looked after Raph, still serious, "Thanks."

Raph stopped and looked back at her, "Sure." He walked out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

That night, April was met with a shock. Sam arrived at their meet up on the corner of Crosby Street with the turtles, dressed in a leather jacket, a skin tight t-shirt, torn denim jeans and dirty sneakers. Her hair had been straightened and tied into a type of man bun. April had simply shown up in jeans jacket, a grey tank top, black jeans and leather boots. "What… what did you do to yourself? How are your boobs…?" April stared at her chest. Somehow, Sam had found a way to make her large breasts almost disappear beneath her t-shirt. Raph pinched the bridge of his beak, embarrassed.

Sam nonchalantly pulled a carton of cigarettes out of her jacket pocket and pulled a cigarette out, sticking it between her teeth, "Taped them down."

"Oh my God…," April put a hand over her.

"She's still pretty. You sure this is going to work?" Casey chuckled.

The corner of Sam's mouth lifted and she walked up to April's van, "I'm sure. Let's go April."

Donatello parked the van in a nearby alley and allowed Raph, Leo and Mikey to exit. "I'll stay here, radio me if you see anyone moving."

They nodded in acknowledgment. Raph unloaded his bike and it into the next alley over, "I'm going to leave it here… in case I have to chase too."

Leo agreed, "Mikey will take that rooftop. Raph take the main building and Case will take the other. I'll be on the ground in case any decide to flee on foot."

April exited the van, taking a cigarette from Sam who was now suddenly nervous, "Come on."

Sam smiled reassuringly to April and began to walk to the warehouse where the tournament was to take place. As she walked away, Raph grabbed her arm and gave it a squeeze, "Be careful… and be smart."

Sam grabbed his hand and squeezed back, "I got this bro."

He let her go and he jumped to the building with Mikey, watching as Sam and April approached the entrance. His breath caught in his chest as the thug at the door stopped them. They spoke with him for a second, Sam doing most of the talking and making a fist pounding gesture with her hand. His heart beat loudly as the girls waited for his approval to enter. It was a long minute and then the thug stepped to the side, letting them in.

Raph had forgotten that he was holding his breath, the feeling his stomach had not gone away as he jumped to the top of the main building and looked down into the dormer of the building, spotting Sam and April. Sam had already started roughhousing with another male, while April was laughing and attached to her arm, obviously going along that this was her boyfriend and they were here to fight. Raphael almost choked as Sam managed to bully the other much thicker thug into submission and moved closer towards the ring where the fighting was to begin.

Sam was unbelievably tough. She had a hot temper, but knew what to do with it, something Leo told Raph he admired greatly in her. She knew how to channel her anger in everything she did. Raph watched the cute smirk on her face as she whispered to April. He admired and respected Sam. She had determination, strength and she was beautiful… caring and kind… anything he could ever ask for in a girl. Raph bit his lip, _please don't get hurt._ It was in that moment that he finally came to realize he would do anything to protect her… hated the idea of her getting hurt… he realized

"I…. I think I love you, Sam."

To be continued….

 _Little Ai: Thanks for your review. I'm getting back in the game after years of not writing and just dedicating myself to school. There's a lot of mistakes but I hope it gets better. Thanks for your support._


	10. Short Story Intermission 2

Short Story #2

 _Boring… just so friggin' boring. I'm ready to shoot my own brains out._ Raphael stared out the window, not even half paying attention to Mrs. Hogan, his elderly English teacher, who droned on and on about Shakespeare, whoever that was. Raphael crossed his arms on his desk and lay his head down, _Come on bell… please ring._

 _Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnggggg_

"Yes!" Raphael stated out loud and nearly ran out of his class like the other students.

"No running!" Mrs. Hogan called out after them.

Raphael pushed past all the other students, making his way to his locker. He had forgotten his headphones in there and wasn't about to make the same mistake for 3rd and 4th period. Raphael and his brothers all attended Bayside High School in New York. One of the hugest high schools in the state… and one of the very few that allowed his kind and humans to go to school together. His kind, you ask? Well, his kind included reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and any other four legged creature you could possibly think of that was once considered a pet. Who knew how long ago it was but centuries ago it came to be known to humans that animals like Raphael himself and others were just as intelligent as humans but it wasn't really realized until centuries later. Now his high school is one of the very first to integrate the two kinds. They are called animalians. Silly, yes. But it was the best way to describe them.

After pushing and shoving for nearly two minutes, Raphael got to his locker and fumbled with the combination for a moment before he got it open. Just as he was closing the locker back up he heard an exasperated cry from behind him at the other lockers across the way. He looked and rolled his eyes. It was them situation every day. Really… it was kind of amusing. Samantha Rodriguez, one of the most attractive girls in the school, would go to her locker after 2nd period on a daily basis and open it for an exaggeration of love letters and requests for dates to pour out of her locker. With her face flushed with embarrassment, she would scramble to pick them all up and rush to the nearest trash can to dispose of them. Raph smirked, that's what she gets for being so darn cute. The girl next to his locker scoffed, slamming her locker shut. She was an animalian, Raph knew her well. She would often catch him at his locker at the same time she would go to retrieve something and talk about how much she hated that girl and… well most any other girls who weren't animalians… Nah, she hated those girls too.

Her name was Nen. She was a tortoise animalian, with brown skin and a large dome shaped shell. Her eyes were large and bright green, the color of emeralds. Instead of wearing the school's uniform according to policy, Nen had cut the long skirt to hang above her knees instead of wearing it below her knees as the rules wanted her to, showing her thick, toned legs. Despite what she may look like to the humans, she was very attractive. One of the most attractive animalians, actually, despite her poor attitude. She crossed her arms and continued to watch Samantha with narrowed eyes, "This seriously disgusts me. I don't see what other males see in her."

Raph raised a brow at her, "Males?"

Nen sneered, "Yeah. I heard that tramp gets letters from animalians too. Disgusting. I don't see what they see in her."

Rapha rolled his eyes at Nen and threw another glance at Samantha, "I don't know." Even to Raphael, who found very little interest in any female in this school, Samantha was very attractive. He found it very easy to believe that she was liked by even his own kind.

"Hey, Raph!" Raph turned and saw his smaller brother, Michelangelo running up to him. Michelangelo was 9th grader and the youngest of he and his three other siblings. "Raph, dad said you left your money behind at home, he wanted me to give it to you." He took out a wad cash from his pants pocket and handed it to Raph.

"Hey, thanks Mike. Good lookin' out." Raph pocketed the cash and looked back across the hallway, disappointed to see that Samantha had already left.

Mike looked in the direction he was staring, "Oh… I get it. You were checking out that girl Samantha, huh? Isn't she a babe?"

"Ick! You too! Raph get control of your brother, please." Nen rolled her eyes and walked away as the bell to nutritional period rang to an end.

Raph turned, giving Mike an angry glare, not allowing him a chance to escape before he grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards his next class, "What did I tell you about being careful about what you say around others?" He stopped in front of his next class and pinched Mikey's cheek rather painfully.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! OK! I'm sorry!" Mikey looked up at the number for the classroom that hung above the door. "Oh, what! You have Miss O'Neil's class next? Oh man, Raph! You're so lucky. Another hottie. She's a teacher I'd love to have teach me a lesson, if you know what I mean."

Raph let go of Mike suddenly, a horrified look on his face as Samantha passed them by to enter the room, giving them a strange look, raising her eyebrow at them. Raph grit his teeth, wrapped his arm around Mike's neck and squeezed. "You little shit! Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut?!"

"I'm sorry!" Mike choked out.

The bell rang. Raph quickly released his brother and darted inside, "Later dweeb!"

Mike cried, "ACK! I'm late!" He quickly scurried off to his next class.

"You're late, Mr. Hamato." Miss. O'Neil stared at him disapprovingly over the rim of her glasses, her sharp eyes glinted in the light.

"What are ya talkin' about? I'm in before the bell finished ringing." Raphael plopped down in his seat, next to his brother, Donatello, a 10th grader who also happened to be taking this class.

Donatello looked at him out of the corner of his eye and whispered, "She expects us to be in our seat before the bell rings."

"Yes I do." Miss O'Neil stated, catching Donatello off guard.

Raph rolled his eyes at Donatello, muttering under his breath, "Teacher's pet."

Donatello glared at him, his face red, "Sh!" Raph and his other brothers knew that Don was absolutely smitten with the fiery haired beauty that was their Journalism teacher. Often Don would bring her a simple gift like an apple or a nice pen set he would buy with his own savings and place it on her desk, only for it get lost with the many other gifts that other students would drop off to their smoking hot instructor.

Miss O'Neil glared at them, making them fall silent. Miss O'Neil cleared her throat and addressed the class, "Students, today we just received a new addition to our 3rd period class," she lay hand out in front of Samantha who sat in a desk in front of her, looking embarrassed, "This is Samantha Rodriguez. She will be with us for the rest of the year. I take it most of you know who she is. So, as you know, the end of the school year is drawing closer and closer by the day. Since they cut out the yearbook class since last year, they have failed to establish just who should be responsible for creating this year's yearbook. So! They decided to throw it on me and my class. So for your last grade for the class, I would like for you all to work on our class yearbook. Come up with themes, take pictures, make stories and interview your classmates outside of this classroom. Make it fun. Not only does your grade depend on it… but the rest of your school peers do too! No pressure! Oh! And this doesn't mean any of your other assignments for my class no longer have to be done. Those are still due to me on time! ANYWAY! Use the rest of class time to come up with ideas in groups. Have fun!" Miss O'Neil walked back around behind her desk and sat down, pulling large stacks of paper towards her and began to sort through them and make notes.

All at once, about ten other boys jumped from their seats and attempted to sit with Samantha, whose eyes darted all around, clearly overwhelmed.

Raph rolled his eyes at the scene and turned to Don who had pulled out his notebook and began to scribble down ideas, "What are you doing?"

Don looked at him with a pout on his face, "Writing ideas. What do you think? Best Halloween costume for one of the yearbook pages?"

Raph let out an annoyed sigh and crossed his arms, "Yeah, Don. Sounds… great?"

He watched curiously as Sam made her way over to them, leaving the ten other boys behind her arguing with each other, shouting out things like, "See?! You made her leave!" and "It's all your fault!"

She stopped in front of Raph's desk, who looked dumbstruck by her acknowledgement, "Um… Do you guys mind if I join your group? Those guys over there aren't really taking this seriously."

Raph nodded silently, still shocked, and helped her turn the desk in front of him around so she could face them, "Here. Sit there."

She thanked him and sat down, looking over at Don's paper, "What are you guys thinking for the school yearbook?"

Don smiled at her and Raph could only wince as Don answered, "Best Halloween costume. What do you think?"

"Oh, that sounds fun!" Samantha smiled, "OH! The teachers this year performed that silly Christmas dance! Maybe we could do that?"

"That's great!" Don quickly scribbled down the idea and looked back up at Sam shyly, "Um… I'm sorry Samantha… but are you the same Samantha that's on the school's volleyball team?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. You've heard of me?" Samantha looked at him curiously.

Raph looked over her shoulder at all the boys who looked positively livid that they were speaking with Samantha after she dissed them. He slapped his forehead, "Uh… Yeah… we're pretty sure we've heard of you."

"You're Samantha!" Don smiled, "My brother talks about you a lot!"

Rah choked, blushing, "What?"

"Huh?" Samantha tilted her head at Don, confused, "Your brother?"

"Yeah! My brother Leo is a senior. He's the Captain of the animalians' varsity wrestling team. He says you guys practice in the same gym." Don smiled, not noticing the wave of relief coming over Raph when he realized Don wasn't talking about him.

Samantha thought about it a moment before her eyes widened with realization, "OH! Leo! Yeah, I know him. He's super cool! We talk after practice sometimes. He's talked about me?"

"Yeah! Says you're super talented. Doesn't get why you're not captain yet."

Samantha blushed, "That guy. So, you're his brother? That's cool." Samantha looked at Raph, studying him, "Hm…"

Raph stuttered, "Wh-What?"

"You're his brother too! How cute! You guys are on the same team aren't you? I didn't know you were related." She leaned forward and rest her chin on her hand, "Are you the dark, handsome and brooding one?" She giggled at Raph's embarrassment. "Hey there's another one of you guys right? A little one?"

Don smiled, "That's Mikey! Wow, I feel like we've known you a while Samantha."

Samantha smiled and shook Don's hand before placing a hand on Raph's shoulder, making him blush and making the boys behind her even more furious, "Please… call me Sam."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Raph felt like he could finally breathe once Journalism was over. The rest of the day went without a hitch almost as the boys from journalism still held a grudge towards him, muttering hateful slurs like, "brainless creatures" or "pets". He ignored them mostly cuz he knew whooping them wouldn't be worth the detention. He knew he'd cream them all anyway. Finally, his favorite period came along. Sixth period was with his Coach Mr. Jones, an ex-hockey player turned P.E. teacher after a really bad accident destroyed his leg, giving him a limp to his walk. If you ask Raph though, he wasn't bad off. He made decent money as a teacher and students and staff alike have heard rumors that he and Miss O'Neil were a thing. Not bad at all, Raph would say.

Raph removed his tie and uniform, slipping into a t-shirt and shorts that he would use to train, screw that singlet. Unless he was in a tournament, he wasn't wearing it, despite what his Captain would tell him. He walked out in his shirt and shorts, much to the disapproval of Coach Jones, who walked away to focus on his junior varsity team.

"Raph…," Leo frowned at his brother.

"Just shut up and do your thing, Leo." Raph put on his headgear and walked over to the wrestling mat.

Leo let out an exasperated sigh and turned to the other males, "Let's practice pins guys."

They got to work. Two hours after practice started and nearly an hour after the final bell rang, the boys started to get redressed to start going home.

"Hey!" Raph turned and saw Sam jogging across the gym towards them. He really had never noticed that the girls really did practice in the same gym as them.

Raph raised his hand in salute but Leo was the first to answer, stepping in front of him, "Hey Sam! What's up? How was practice?"

"Oh. It was good! I was going to ask you the same. Hey, Raph! I was watching you! You're really good."

The corner of Raph's mouth twitched with pride, "Thanks!"

Leo rolled his eyes, "Anyway, what's up? What are you doing after practice?"

"I was actually going to ask your brother the same thing." Sam looked at Raph and smiled. "I wanted to see if I could come over, come up with more ideas for the yearbook and maybe work on homework together?"

Leo's eyes widened in surprise, "Yearbook?"

"Yeah, your brothers and I are in the same class and we're doing your class yearbook Mr. Senior. So I want to make it really awesome. So if it's ok…," Sam smiled at Raph whose heart caught in his throat, "Can I come over?"

Raph managed to choke out, "Um… y-yes."

Sam smiled, "Great. I'll just go get my stuff." She ran off to the gym to get her bag, passing by Nen who was coming off the basketball court with her team. Nen looked at Raph with disgusted eyes.

Raph rolled his own and looked away, catching Leo staring at him weirdly, "What?"

Leo shook his head, "Nothing. Let me call dad… let him know someone is joining us for dinner." He pulled out his cellphone and dialed their father.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Now, Sam was not ready for this. Their father was a rat. See, the turtles were adopted, their own mother became ill after Mikey was born and left them with Splinter to be taken care of. They were all very young when this happened and could barely remember what their mother looked like. But Splinter did his best to raise them and considered them his own. Raph blushed furiously as Splinter greeted them at the door. Splinter was very excited to see that the boys had brought a girl home.

Splinter passed around a large bowl of pasta, urging Mikey to allow Samantha to serve herself first as they sat around the table for dinner, "So, Samantha, you go to school with my sons?"

Sam smiled and modestly served her plate with pasta, passing back to Mikey who piled it on his own plate much to the other's embarrassment, "Yes I do, Mr. Splinter. And you can call me Sam. I know my name is long. Thank you for letting me come over sir."

"My, what manners. You're simply lovely." Splinter smiled and elbowed Raph who sat at the table toying with his food.

"Ow…," Raph muttered, his face stained red from too much embarrassment in one day.

Once they finally were released from the dinner table, Raph, Sam and Don all went outside and sat on the patio around a glass table. Mikey sat on the ground nearby, eager to be their guest. Leo sat in the swinging chair behind them, reading his government book. Raph rolled his eyes, this was simply embarrassing for him. Samantha pulled out a sheet of paper and looked at Raph with a smile.

"How about… we do fifteen minutes of brainstorming and then we can go onto our other homework?"

Raph bit his lip, "Um… sure."

Don agreed, "That sounds great. Where do we start? OH! Best smile for the seniors?"

"That sounds good! You Raph? What do you think? I bet you have great ideas." Sam smiled and nudged him lightly.

His heart skipped another beat and Raph could swear she could hear it, "Um… well… pictures of the… clubs… I guess…?"

"Oh classic! That works!" Sam scribbled it down and began to rattle off her own ideas.

Raph smiled, feeling a little more comfortable and began to shoot off ideas as well. He hadn't even noticed the sun beginning to go down as they moved on from the yearbook to their homework. By the time they were finished, it was time for Sam to go home. Sam walked out to the front and shook Splinter's hand, thanking him once again. Splinter stopped her, "Wait. It's getting dark. Your parents aren't coming for you?"

Sam shook her head, "Oh no, sir. It's ok. I don't live far."

"Nonsense. Let one of my sons walk you home."

"Oh." Sam's eyes immediately fixed on Raphael, who began to sweat, "Is it ok if you walk me, Raph?"

"Sure-."

"I can go with you." Leo jumped beside Sam and grabbed her bag to carry it for her.

"Oh… um… well Raph was going to…," Sam started, looking a little surprised.

Splinter nodded, "You may both go."

Leo's face became serious, "Ok." And they began their walk home, Leo and Sam talking back and forth and Raph beside them silent, awkward.

When they reached Sam's place, Sam asked if she could come over again sometime. The two males agreed and they bid her a goodnight. The rest of their walk home was quiet awkwardness…

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For the next few months, Sam was a regular house guest. She brought gifts often for Splinter, which only increased his fondness of her. Sometimes, after homework, of course, she would play video games with Mikey or sit outside talking with Don or Leo. Raph noticed, however, she would often like to ask him to go walking with her to the liquor store to buy lollipops or cheap plastic board games they would very often lose the pieces to as they walked back. In their increased time together, a few things became very clear to Raph… one, Leo was smitten with Sam…. Raph could feel the jealously radiating from Leo whenever they were alone and it irritated the hell out of Raph because just what was Raph to do? Tell Sam to fuck off? Not likely. The second thing that became apparent to Raph was that Nen was smitten with Raph. Nen despised Sam and would often criticize Raph for spending so much time with her. It wasn't until Sam made a genuine attempt to connect with Nen, did he realize that she was not going to cave to Sam's charms because Sam made her jealous. Nen was practically in love with Raph. Thirdly…. Raph was slowly falling in love with Sam as well. They had very much in common and they made each other laugh. Her smile was contagious and he found it so hard to be without her on the days she decided not to come over, they had even traded phone numbers and texted each other incessantly so they would not miss each other. Raph's favorite thing about the text? She would always end her texts to him with kiss face and it made his heart melt and hope that one day they could really mean it…

The all came down on him one day, however. Mikey, Raph, Don and Leo all walked home early from class one day because practice ran short as the wrestling season was over nearly two months ago. Raph pulled his phone from his pocket, his face falling when there was no text from Sam yet. He hadn't seen her since 3rd period. He pocketed his phone, listening to his brother's conversation.

Mike practically skipped on the sidewalk, "Wow Leo! So what color are you getting her?"

"I don't know yet Mikey. I don't know what color her dress is going to be." Leo bit the inside of his cheek, slightly annoyed at his nosey, little brother.

Raph immediately snapped at attention, "Dress?"

Don looked at Raph, slightly worried, "Yeah… you didn't hear?"

Raph gave Don a confused look. "No…," He glanced at Leo, feeling a heavy pit in his stomach, "Hear what?"

Leo stayed silent.

"Leo asked Sam out to the prom!" Mikey jumped up and down, "She said yes."

Raph stopped dead in his tracks and Leo sped up, trying to make it home. Don looked back at Raph sadly and Mikey chased after Leo. Raph grit his teeth as he took out his phone again. No message from Sam yet.

When he got home, Raph shut himself away in his room and immediately texted Sam, trying to find the best way to bring up what happened without sounding like an obsessive freak. He breathed in and out slowly and settled for a simple…

HELLO – RAPH -_-+

A few minutes passed, and Raph tried to pull out his homework to focus on that instead waiting for the phone to ring.

PING!

Raph opened the phone and saw a text from Sam. He opened it.

HEY, WHAT'S UP – SAM 3

NOTHING MUCH. SO… I HEARD THE BIG NEWS. MUST'VE BEEN GREAT- RAPH-_-+

PING!

OH… WHAT DID YOU HEAR?- SAM 3

I HEARD THAT LEO ASKED YOU TO THE PROM. HOW WAS IT? HE DIDN'T REALLY TELL US MUCH- RAPH -_-+

A few minutes passed again. Raph began to scribble madly in his homework.

PING!

OH… IT WAS OK. HE JUST ASKED ME IN BETWEEN 5TH AND 6TH PERIOD SO IT WASN'T A BIG THING- SAM 3

Raph took a deep breath. He couldn't help himself.

IT SOUNDS PRETTY BIG. HE DIDN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT AND I HAD TO TEXT YOU FOR YOU TO TELL ME- RAPH -_-+

Almost an hour passed and Raph became so irritated he began to punch his pillow. Why couldn't she be honest with him?

PING!

Raph near jumped to the phone and his heart fell. He screwed up.

I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE TALKING ABOUT IT RIGHT AWAY TO ANYONE. LEO KEPT HIS PROMPOSAL OR WHATEVER QUIET SO I DIDN'T WANT TO SAY ANYTHING CUZ I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE WANTED TO DO – SAM3

Raph bit his lip.

YOU WANTED TO KEEP IT QUIET? EVEN FROM ME?- RAPH -_-+

Another hour passed.

PING!

I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. I'LL SEE YOU AROUND. MAYBE I'LL COME OVER THIS WEEK. BYE RAPH- SAM3

For a second, Raph wondered if this is what heartbreak felt like. She didn't send a kiss face…

The whole week, Sam pretty much avoided Raphael. They didn't speak and only one person was absolutely content with it. Nen. She was so happy they weren't speaking, she even went out of her way to ask Raph to prom with and amazingly ridiculous promposal. She had broken into his locker and decorated it with pink hearts and the word "Prom?" written all over in pink. Much to her anger and embarrassment, he said no. He didn't care if it would make Sam jealous to see him there with another girl and having fun. He was angry at her and Leo. Leo had to have known how he felt. The traitor. He didn't want to see either of them. The day of prom, Splinter drove with Mike, Don and Leo to pick up Sam for prom, Raph stayed behind to mope. He looked at his phone again. No text from Sam. One from Nen saying she was at prom and having fun… but he really didn't care. He looked up at the ceiling.

PING!

Raph took out his phone again and opened up a media text from his oblivious brother Mikey, who knew nothing of his brother's hurt. He had sent him a text of Sam and Leo. Sam wore her beautiful long curly hair down with a diamond beret, her makeup naked and simple and her dress was blue, cinched at the waist, showing off her curves, a modest slit in the side of her dress that went down to her toes. She was absolutely beautiful and Leo couldn't look happier in a grey suit with blue tie that match her dress. Raph felt the lump in his throat, threw the phone on the floor, rolled onto his stomach, letting a tear escape his eye before he fell asleep.

"Raphael…. Raphael….," Splinter gently shook Raph awake.

"Mm? What time is it?" Raph rubbed his eyes and picked up his phone. "Two AM? Dad?"

"I'm sorry my son, the other two are fast asleep. I tried to wake them. But could you accompany to pick up your brother and Sam? They went to a restaurant after the dance. I'm very tired. I don't want to fall asleep on the way there." Splinter looked apologetic.

Raph groaned, he really didn't want to go… but his dad wouldn't ask him unless he absolutely needed him, "Fine."

When they got to the restaurant, Raph couldn't help but pout in the front seat, watching other couples leave hand in hand. He wasn't looking forward to seeing Leo and Sam together, let alone sit in the same vehicle with them. He glanced at Splinter who was quietly dozing in the driver's seat while they waited. After a few minutes, Sam and Leo walked out. Raph stared, Sam's makeup wasn't as clean as it was before. It looked like it was running. Raph's head snapped to sudden realization. _Are they… arguing?_ Leo looked extremely annoyed and he was shouting, but Raph couldn't hear what. At the end of his rant, Sam bolted from him down the street, Leo calling out after her. Raph shook Splinter awake and jump out of the car, running up to Leo.

"Leo! What happened?"

Leo put a hand over his face, embarrassed, "She doesn't like me… she loves someone else."

Raph's heart dropped, "You're kidding me! You let her take off because of that?!" Raph dashed after Sam, calling out to her, "Sam! Wait!"

Raph kept running until he could hear the choking sobs of Sam and he feet hitting the pavement. She had removed her heels and was running barefoot, "SAM!" He caught up with her before she crossed the light and grabbed her by the arm, "Are you crazy?! It's two in the morning! Come on! We're taking you home!"

Sam turned and wrapped her arms around Raph's neck, sobbing violently, "You…. I love you!"

Raph froze, he hadn't even wrapped his arms around her, "W-what?"

Sam pulled back and looked at him, her mascara ran down her cheeks, her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she was still beautiful. She looked down at her feet, her sobbing became quieter, "Leo asked me to prom… and I said 'yes'… I was so frustrated because I couldn't get you to notice me or like me. I would try to get you alone and walk with you… text you… and you just never noticed me." She looked at Raph and wiped her eyes, "I look like such a mess. I'm sorry. For what I did to Leo. He tried to kiss me and I told him 'no'. He got mad. I'm sorry. I told him. I told him I'm in love with you."

Raph's heart pounded in his chest. He was so blind and he felt so sorry for it. This whole week he thought she was ignoring him. But he was ignoring her. One side of him felt awful, for obvious reasons. While another side felt the pit in his stomach grow heavier until he could no longer contain it. He leaned forward and lifted Sam's chin with his hand and planted a kiss on her lips.

Sam pulled back, shocked, "Raph?"

Raph smiled and pulled out his phone, calling his dad, "Dad? Yeah. We're ok. We are near her house. I'm going to walk her the rest of the way… call you when we get there ok? I'll take a cab or uber back or something. Don't worry. OK. Love you. Bye."

He looked at Sam and held her face in between his hands again and kissed her, this time, more deeply. He pulled back feeling the weight in his stomach become light and lighter, until it felt like it was floating, he smiled, "Let's get you home."

Once Sam and Raph got to her front step, Raph looked into her eyes and touched her cheek gingerly, "Sam… I love you too. I'm sorry I was so blind. I just never thought that you… I… I never thought you could love me. You're so sweet, kind and beautiful."

Sam blushed, brushing her fingers across his lips with a feather-like touch before she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again. Raph wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer. He licked her bottom lip, begging for her to open her mouth. Sam happily obliged, laughing gently into the kiss before she let out a soft moan as Raph's tongue entered her mouth, lightly tickling her own. Raphael's heart pounded in his chest, listening to her soft moans that escaped her, becoming excited as she nipped at his lower lip while they separated for air. Sam looked at him and bit her lip. His eyes were beautiful golden and glowing. They were the most beautiful jewels she could ever hope to own. She looked up at her house then looked out into the driveway.

Sam breathed out gently, "Raph… my parents aren't home. Want to…?"

"Yes." He didn't even wait for her to finish.

She opened the door and led him to her room, locking the door behind them. She grabbed Raph by the hand and had him sit on the bed next to her before he brought her face in for another kiss. Sam moaned, placing her hands on the hands that held her face. Raph parted from her mouth, kissing her gently on her cheeks and whispering, "Can I kiss you and touch you everywhere else?" Sam nodded and guided his hand to her breast. He squeezed it gently eliciting a soft whine from Sam. The fire in his nether regions grew hotter at the feel of her soft breast and brought his other hand up to play and squeeze the other, while the other hand reach for the zipper on the back of her dress. Sam breathed deeply, reaching a hand down between Raph's legs, feeling the bulge there. He groaned and stared down at her hand. He bit his lip and continued to undress her, his tongue delving into her mouth once more. Once the zipper was down, Raph pulled the dress down to her hips, exposing her large breasts, and he gazed for second, amazed. Her dress was sleeveless, she wore no bra. This was his first time ever experiencing real breasts and he was beside himself with excitement. Raph couldn't help himself, he stood up and removed his jeans and removed his boxers. He let himself drop from his protective shell. Samantha swallowed thickly as she stared at the large appendage that hung heavily between Raph's legs, ready and at attention. Raph noticed her stares and became shy, "Um… are you sure you want to?"

Sam gently grasped his penis and began to stroke, eliciting a moan from Raph. She was touching him. Sam was touching him and it felt amazing. Raph breathed in heavily, beginning to thrust into her hand, as she twisted her hand gently, creating sensations in Raph that made him almost lose control. He pumped more rapidly into her hand, watching as Sam removed the rest of her clothing, now playing with the soft wetness of her vagina. Raph stopped suddenly, removing Sam's hand before she could keep stroking him. Sam looked up at him, as if awaking from a trance, she was so into stroking him, she hadn't realized just how close he was.

Sam licked her lips, "What's wrong?"

"I was going to come…," Raph crawled into bed, crawling on top of Sam.

"The why didn't you…?"

"I want to make love to you." Raph brought his mouth down to her nipples, sucking on her supple breast while his free hand played with the nipple of the other. Sam arched her back, holding his head to her breasts, letting out a low moan. He was trying his best to get the biggest mouthful of Sam he could. He felt as if he waited so long for this.

Raph smiled around the mouthful of breast and his hand released her other nipple, bringing his hand down to her warm, moist pussy. She let out a small cry as she felt his fingers exploring the inside of her lips, stroking up and down. He reached a little higher, until he found the small fold between her lips. Sam moaned loadly, thrusting into his hand. He pulled back his hand a little surprise before he went back again to stroke the fold. Sam let out another loud moan and Raph continued to stroke and rub it. "Does that feel good, baby?"

Sam cried, "Yes."

Raph smiled, feeling her juices drip to the mattress. He slowly and gently dipped his finger into her hole. She let out another large cry. "Raph! Don't tease me! Please!"

Raph couldn't help but oblige, he grabbed his dick and positioned himself at her entrance, still rubbing the fold, "I'm going to go slow ok? Tell me if you need me to stop."

Sam nodded and brought him down for a deep kiss. Raph slowly began to push into Sam's entrance, a painful cry escaping Sam's mouth, making him stop, "Sam?"

"Keep going." A single tear escaped Sam's eye as he continued to push into her.

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he becoming completely enveloped in her. He paused for a second, on Sam's behalf and on his behalf, for he felt that if he moved, he would cum right away. He looked down at Sam with one eye, breathing heavily. She was biting her lip so hard he thought she would make it bleed and she was fighting back tears. She let out another deep breath and looked at him, "Move."

Raphael pulled out of her slowly, and slowly pushed back in, earning himself another painful cry from Sam, he looked down as he felt something warm running down his cock. He shook away his anxiety and shock and thrust into her again slowly. The worst was over now at least. He kept this momentum for a moment until he noticed her cries of pain slowly began to diminish into soft moans then into cries of pure pleasure. Sam screamed, "More!" Raph lifted her legs high into the air, pounding into her, earning scream after scream from Sam, relishing in wet pussy that felt so good eating up his cock. He groaned, feeling himself near completion.

"Ah! Samantha! I love you!"

"I love you Raphael!" She rubbed her own breasts, feeling herself get close as well.

Raphael thrust into her again, exploding into her pussy and filling her with his seed. He could feel her orgasm erupt from behind his cock as well and he let out a low groan. He pumped into her gently a few more times before collapsing onto the bed next to her, panting heavily. Her whole body trembled with her orgasm and feeling Raph's seed drip from between her legs. Raph looked at her, "I'm sorry… I…"

Sam smiled, "It's ok…. I love you."

Raph smiled back, "I love you too."

Raph kissed her gently, pulled out his phone, texted Splinter and pulled the covers around him and Samantha and fell asleep.

DAD, I'M STAYING WITH SAMANTHA. WE'RE OK. SEE YOU IN THE MORNING – RAPH -_-+

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Leo graduated that year, no hard feelings towards Sam and Raph about their new relationship. The senior started wonderfully. People were very happy with the year book the Journalism class came up with that year, with the main designers being Don, Raph and Sam. So beginning that year, they were the heads of the new yearbook club. Some things changed, Raph was now Captain of the wrestling team in place of his brother. It only made sense to make him Captain, he was one of the best. Sam was Captain of the volleyball team now based on Leo's pushing and driving for her to be Captain. Raph and Sam now walked to most of their classes together and one thing hasn't changed, Nen still hated Sam's guts. She even made multiple attempts to have Sam harmed, but Sam could handle herself and they found Nen hanging from the basketball hoop one day, a sign that said 'I'm a hateful person' around her as struggled to get down.

Yes, Raphael was happy. Days he couldn't see Sam because they were so busy, she would actually call him and leave him texts with a kissy face and say she loved him. And daily, Sam would get to her locker after 2nd period, open it and mountains of love letters would pour out still, much to her annoyance. Raph would simply laugh and help Sam pick them off the floor and dump them in the nearest trash can. Then, they would hold hands and walk to their next class together.

The End


	11. Chapter 9

"I never thought the Purple Dragons were still this big in New York…. Not since the Foot had invaded and faded away."

"April, please, shush. Keep an eye out for Austin. We'll figure everything else out later." Sam kept her eyes scanning the area and continue to walk through the large crowd of people. All thugs who showed up for the fight, either to watch, compete or hustle their drugs and stolen goods. Sam's eyes remained concentrated on searching for her young student, becoming anxious. She could hear and feel her own heart beating in her chest.

April glanced at Sam, noticing her anxiety, "Sam… there are so many people here. I don't know if we can find him. The best thing to do is to find the one who runs this side of the neighborhood and take him out, thin their numbers here. Maybe then…"

"No." Sam stated, glaring at April out of the corner of her eye. "We get Austin first. April… look around you. That girl… with that guy… she can't be older than seventeen… I don't want to see Austin throw his life away too."

April squeezed Sam's arm, "Sam, that isn't the plan."

"Place your bets here or try your luck!"

Sam and Aprils turned quickly to their left. A man dressed in a nice long sleeve shirt and slacks stood atop large crates, a TV screen hung from chains in the ceiling that changed from displaying the names of those who entered to compete and those who had placed a bet. Sam pushed and shoved her way past annoyed crowds of men and women to the front in order to get a better look at the screen. She waited a moment with bated breath for the screen to change back to the names of those who entered to compete. Much to her anger and horror, Austin's name flashed on the screen as one of the first to compete. Sam grit her teeth, _Austin… why?!_

"Hey!" April grabbed Sam's elbow, she was annoyed Sam left her behind in the crowd.

Sam jerked her arm back, "What?!'

April let go of Sam's arm, surprised at Sam's outburst, "Sam. We have to stay together."

Sam looked at April, a grim expression on her face, "We're too late… he's in."

"That's fine. We'll find him. I think this is where we sign up. Just let me…," April made her way forward just as the man who stood on the crates leaned forward and extended an open hand in Sam's face, who looked a little taken aback.

"You, pipsqueak… yer holding up everyone here. Place yer bet quick and move it. Who's yer man ta win it?" The man took a drag from his cigarette and waited for Sam to answer, still holding out his hand.

April stepped forward, "Talking to my man all wrong… actually I'm…"

"I want to compete," Sam put her arm in front of April and pushed her back gently.

April's looked at Sam, her eyes wide. _Sam… what are you doing?_

"HA!" The man guffawed and took another drag from his cigarette, "Pipsqueak… ya ain't seen the competition have ya? Ain't no fun in a death match when one 'a ya's is already dead walkin' in. Yer better off pickin' yer man and findin' you and yer lady a nice place to sit. Come get yer man, will ya doll?" He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and shook the ashes onto Sam's sneakers.

Sam could feel her eye twitch, her face became steely, "Just put me in."

A serious expression came over the man and he looked down at Sam, before taking another long drag, "Alright, pretty boy, don't say I didn't warn ya. What's yer name?"

"S… Saul." Sam didn't want to risk anyone recognizing her. She looked at April nervously.

"Alright then. And you sweet cheeks?" He looked at April.

"Don't call me sweet cheeks. Diamond."

Sam nearly choked. She didn't know if it was from embarrassment or the need to burst out laughing. She waited for April to finish talking with the man who also looked rather amused, before she couldn't take it anymore and grabbed April by the arm, darting towards the back exit of the building. She almost didn't make it outside before she burst out, "Diamond?! What are you? A stripper?!"

April blushed, "Shut up Saul! I couldn't think with that damn move you pulled in there!" April looked around, the two guards at the door were staring at them and she lowered her voice to almost a whisper, "Sam… this was not part of the plan. What if someone recognizes you? You'll be out on that ring for everyone to see. Ever since you cheesed off that guy…"

"No one will recognize me. No one will bother. I'm the pipsqueak, remember? No one will bother with me. Now, where to 'Diamond'?" Sam bit her upper lip.

April grit her teeth, "Well… Saul… that guy said the competitors are all being watched in the smaller building that's attached to this one. They're making sure foul play doesn't happen 'before' the match. I'm going to text the guys… update them. I probably shouldn't tell them what you did, though. Can't imagine what Raph is going to do to you." She pulled out her phone to text the guys as they walked around to the far side of the building where more guards stood watch to the smaller building. It actually looked like a storage area.

They walked up to the doors to be stopped by the guards who asked them for their names to radio the man who signed up the participants. Once it was confirmed they were there to compete, they were allowed through the doors and they were greeted by quite a sight. There were more people than Sam had realized were competing in the tournament. The room was filled with people, men and women. What disturbed Sam the most was that these people looked like they couldn't be any older than twenty and no younger that fourteen. These were the soon to be victims of crime and gang wars. Sam's fists were clenched so tightly, she could feel blood begin to run from her palms as her nails dug deeply into the skin. April shook her and nodded in the direction of a small group of boys, all had to be in their 20s except for a smaller boy who stood in the middle of the group.

"Austin…," Sam breathed out and began to make her way to the group before she was yanked back by April violently. "April- I mean, Diamond! What's your deal?!"

April slugged Sam in the shoulder, amusing others around who thought she was manhandling her boyfriend, "You can't go up to him now. What are you going to do? Drag him home?"

Sam snapped, "No. I'm going to beat him within an inch of his life, hog tie him and THEN drag him home."

April slapped the back of her head, which Sam had not realized, hurt her now near bald head quite badly, "You do that… you'll mess up everything… and do you know how hard it will be for us to escape from here if you do that? In case you forgot, we're being watched. Best to see this through and see if you can get to him before he goes out there to fight. Got it hothead?"

Sam clutched the back of her head, gritting her teeth, "Yeah, babe… fine!"

Sam made her way across from the group of boys and sat on an overturned crate and pretended to fidget with her phone as she listened to the boys chatter away. April sighed and crossed over to her and leaned against her, blocking her view of Austin. April glared at her, letting her know she was staring too much. But Sam couldn't help it, even now as Austin stood there, chattering away with the boys about what they would do when they won, she was so hurt. Austin still looked like a very young child, he was of average height and average build, with blue eyes and dark hair. She knew him for four years and she knew he had a hard time as a child. His mother came from a very strict culture, where they did not have children before marriage. However, his mother had him at a young age and his father was already a married man. Once Austin was born, his father wanted nothing to do with them. Without a father figure, and his mother working endless hours, Austin was growing up without confidence and guidance. He was a timid child. An easy target for bullies. Even when Sam began to train him, Austin grew as a fighter but was still very shy. She could never imagine that he would want anything as this.

"Saul… Saul!" April elbowed Sam in her side, shaking her from her trance.

"What?" Sam frowned.

They started calling the fighters. You're in the third match. I'm in the fourth. Look." April pointed at a small TV that hung in the corner of the room. Everyone's eyes were fixed on it, including Austin. The screen was playing live footage of the first match between a large, bulky, muscled man and a smaller, slim man. It was not long before the larger man was able to grab the smaller man by the leg and fling him from the ring.

April winced, "Ouch."

Sam stood up and stretched, watching Austin's face as he visibly winced too, obviously nervous, "Don't go getting cold feet on me."

April smirked, "Please…"

The next match was between one of the boys that Austin was talking to and an older gentleman. Halfway through the match, Austin looked down at the floor, his breathing noticeable becoming more rapid as his friend took a kick to the face, launching him backwards until he finally hit the ground, unconscious. Sam smirked, _maybe that will teach him to do some stupid shit like this again._ "What's wrong kid? Getting nervous?" Sam teased, beginning to wrap her hands.

Austin's head snapped in her direction, surprised slightly, before he frowned at her, "Think you're tough? What are you wrapping your hands for, old geezer?"

Sam's amused eyes quickly turned into those of anger, "So I won't hurt my hand when I break your nose." Sam glared at him for a few seconds more before she was pushed by April to make her way into the ring.

Sam was let out by the guard who jeered at the difference in size between her and her opponent, who was a very tall and hefty man, covered in tattoos and piercings from head to foot, shirtless, and bald. They stepped out from the building and Sam could feel eyes on her, she looked to the side of the next building, seeing only the white of Mikey's eyes as he watched them walk towards the main building. As they entered the building, the last winner walked out and laughed at them as he made his way past them. "Take it easy on him, big guy!" He called behind him as he walked away, back to the building where they had waited. Sam's opponent grunted, a sneer breaking out onto his face. He looked down at Sam, his teeth bared like an animal. Sam looked back at him, her gaze not wavered by his threatening look.

"I'll kill you as quickly as possible. Teach them to pit the Great Bo against a pathetic morsel like you."

Sam smiled at him, "Yeah… we'll teach them alright. Good luck big guy."

They made their way into the center ring, roars of laughter breaking throughout the crowd. April watched from the other building as people began to throw bottles across the room, obviously angry that Sam was not the warrior they thought they had put their money on. April grimaced as he felt her phone vibrate furiously in her pocket. She pulled it out, not surprised to see that Raphael was madly texting her, no doubt furious to see that Sam put herself in the dead center of attention of the people who tried to kill her. April put her phone on silent and put it back in her pocket, returning her attention to the screen as Sam and her opponent were brought to the middle of the ring to bow to each other.

Sam's eyes never left her opponent. She didn't trust him and for good reason. Before the match was even declared to begin, the referee jumped back as the Great Bo brought his fist above his head and was bringing it down on Sam's head, almost before she would jump out of the way. The Great Bo's fist slammed to the floor, shaking the ring and startling Sam with his tremendous strength. Sam shook away her surprise and looked at him, calculating. He had the strength to crush her, but his blows were slow. She just had to avoid him and strike. Samantha dashed towards him, taking him by surprise as she jumped at his face, jabbing at him rapidly, hitting him in the eyes and nose. He let out an angry yell and tried to grab her by the shoulder to pull her away but she managed to catch his arm. She smiled at him as she kicked his foot out from beneath him, making him lose his balance and pulled his arm forward, making it easy for her to toss him to the floor, much to the surprise of the crowd. The Great Bo was slow to get up, leaving Sam with enough of a chance to jump onto his shoulders and wrap her legs around his neck. Sam was small, but Leo had taught her to use her small size to her advantage, along with the size of her opponent. Sam leaned all the way back, forcing the Great Bo's head backwards to keep his neck from snapping. Sam planted her hands onto the floor and used the strength in her legs to lift him and swing him to the floor behind her. He lay there a moment and sat on his chest quickly, punching him in his nose, succeeding in drawing a gush of blood from his face before he went limp. The whole room went silent as Sam got up to straighten the flyaway hairs from her face, she looked around with a smirk before she walked off the ring. A groan escaped across nearly half the crowd as she was announced the winner. Much to her annoyance, only a handful of people had actually believed she would win.

A breath of relief escaped Raph as he watched from the roof. He watched as April made her way to the center ring down below and decided to radio Casey to let him know. "Hey Case. So Sam just won her first match….," Raph clicked his tongue, he was still really angry.

There was silence for a moment. "Sam? Sam joined?" Leo asked on the other side of the radio.

Raph sighed, "Yup. April's up next."

"Sweet! I bet she went totally ninja on that fu!" Mikey exclaimed.

"She's just as bad as you Raph. Going rogue the way she did…," Don stated.

"Got another one on the team that won't follow direct orders, huh? Why didn't I tell her 'no' again?" Leo sounded aggravated on the other side of the radio.

"Let me know how April does, Raph. Babe will show how it's really done. By the way, did you guys see the car driving up to the building?" Casey boasted.

Raph stopped, he had not been paying attention to the street, "What car?"

"Big, fancy car with a driver. Dropped off someone at the building in the middle of Sam's match. I don't know if they're in the building yet. Get your eyes off Sam for a sec and pay attention will ya, Raph? April is down there." Casey sounded annoyed with Raph's lack of attention.

"Shut up, Case." Raph grit his teeth, feeling his face get red.

"Both of you hush. Mikey and I will go check out the car. See who was important enough to get a driver to the show."

Mikey groaned, "Fine."

Raph holstered his radio and looked back down at the ring where April was in a heated match with another lady, one who decided to cheat and bring knives to the fight. The woman lunged at April, attempting to slice her face and neck. April was much faster and more experienced than the woman and she dodged every attack. In her frustration, the woman finally made to stab April, lunging the blade forward. April side stepped the blade and attacked the woman's arm, hitting each pressure point in her arm until the woman dropped her blade, her arm limp. The woman screamed in anger, bringing her leg high into the air to his April in the chest but April grabbed it too, hitting the woman in multiple points until she fell to the floor on one knee, looking up at April with venom in her eyes. April's eyes glinted in the light and she attacked the woman's neck and chest in all her different pressure areas, causing the air to leave her slowly like a balloon until she collapsed to the floor. April bowed and began to walk off stage as men catcalled to her and cheered.

Raph took out his radio again, "Guess who won?"

"That's my girl." Casey bragged.

"Hey guys. So there was no driver when we got here." Leo stated from the other side of the radio. "But this sure is a fancy ride. It looks familiar."

"It's all decked out and everything. It's got to be the hot shot. Barely got here. Got to tell the girls to keep an eye out for him in the crowd. That'll be our guy." Mikey said, the sound of him rummaging in the background could be heard.

"Don't get caught, Mikey." Donny warned.

"You're too loud guys." Raph stated and holstered his radio again.

Back in the small building, Sam sat on the crate, watching Austin with amused eyes as he began to nervously fumble with his own hand wraps. Austin glanced at her, catching her gaze, "What are you looking at?"

Sam smirked, "Not bad for an old geezer, huh? Let's hope you don't get knocked out in this first round. I'll come after you next."

Austin looked at her, surprised and swallowed thickly, "Don't talk to me like we're familiar, old man. I've fought tougher than you." Austin dropped his wrap from anxiety and Sam became serious. She got up and walked over to pick it up.

Sam grabbed Austin's hand, "Gimme that. I'll do it. Don't struggle kid. I'll kick your ass. You're pissing me off. Oh yeah, can't imagine who that would be."

Austin looked at the man who was now doing his wraps without his consent. This man was so bizarre, "I've fought my teacher. Pretty tough. Better than you… and she's a girl!"

Sam's eye twitched and she slapped the side of Austin's head before finishing wrapping his hand, "I told you not to piss me off, punk!"

Austin grabbed his head and looked at Sam, shocked that a stranger would hit him, but at the same time, he felt familiar, "What the hell?!"

"You're up next, kid." April came back and motioned for Austin to head to the ring, one of the boys he had been talking to earlier, close behind him as his opponent. April waited for them to be out of earshot before she slapped Sam's head, "What are you doing? What part of undercover don't you understand?"

"The part where I can't slap the shit out of him and take him home!" Sam stated in an angry whisper, she looked up at the screen and watched as Austin began his fight with the other boy. Her chest swelled with pride as Austin proved to have been a very good student there past few years. His footwork was excellent and the other boy could hardly throw in a punch as Austin attacked him on and on. Finally, the other boy could no longer keep defending himself from the onslaught of Austin's punches and he let his defense down, letting Austin hit him in the face over and over again. Sam smiled, Austin had dazed the other boy and brought his stance low, bringing his fist upward as he sprung forward, upper cutting his opponent. He learned that only from her.

The next round ended quickly and an older gentleman won the match, leaving six competitors still standing. They all drew numbers for their opponents, seeing as how April and Sam were a "couple" they wanted to avoid complications in case one of them decided to drop out. Plus, they were just too interesting. No one wanted the possibility of either of them dropping out before the final round. In the end, two young girls who were no older than their teens fought aggressively and neither won. The fight had gotten so violent that one girl nearly beat the other to death and the other girl, in her last ditch effort to win, stabbed the other, resulting in a deadly wound that thugs dragged her off the ring, blood dripping on the floor, to take her to the back to see if they could stop the bleeding. They never found out if they did. Sam had a little more difficulty taking down her next opponent, the older gentleman. He was much faster than the Great Bo and more skilled, but eventually she was able to overtake him in strength, strength that she had to thank Leo for giving her when she wore the weights. Then there was Austin and April. April was not at all happy to be pit against Austin. She would have much rather preferred Sam's opponent who wasn't a child. The fight was poor. April didn't even try which frustrated Austin, who took her down with a punch to the gut, a punch that April refused to let anyone believe that it didn't debilitate her. April was out and now she was never going to get near enough to the big boss to see what they were planning with Sam or their tournament. It was now up to Sam.

Sam sat in the room, watching the screen as they escorted April off the ring and into the crowd to sit. Austin looked around, jumping up and down as they announced him the winner. Sam stood up and started to walk to the building, hoping in her head that she wouldn't have to beat Austin up too bad. When she entered the double doors, cheers and heckles exploded from the crowd. She frowned, the match hadn't even started yet. She stepped up to the ring and much to her surprise, the same man who she had beaten up the night before she was attacked at her gym, stood there, patting Austin's shoulder. He still had a bandage on his nose but it wasn't broken anymore at least. Sam felt her blood run cold as he motioned for her to get closed and he turned her around to face the crowd.

"Ya'll know me! I'm your Master of Ceremonies here! KING! And I present to you… our champs! However! This is but one small opportunity of a lifetime! As you know, Purple Dragons numbers were thinned out severely in the past few years by our sworn enemies… the ninja turtles!"

The crowd booed and hissed until he called for quiet again, "Yeah! We know! They chased out the Foot Clan and destroyed the Shredder… But a new day is here." He pointed up towards the second floor of the building where a very handsome man stood, watching. "We are bringing back the Purple Dragons, badder and stronger than ever! The Shredder will return one day and we must have warriors ready to stay in his good graces. You two." He motioned at Sam and Austin who both began to sweat, "You have been the mightiest warriors we have seen today… but there can only be one. The rules have changed… a fight to the death, in order for us to know who truly has the guts to make. The last one standing will be worthy of joining our gang and raising us once again. Are you ready?"

Sam's blood ran cold and she glanced at Austin whose face had gone completely white. The man chuckled and pushed them towards each other before standing back, "I can tell you are…. Alright then… fight!"

 _This… no… this wasn't supposed to happen,_ Sam thought to herself, _If I fight him, I have to kill him… if he has to win I have to kill him. If I forfeit I might expose myself… I don't know what to do._ She stared at Austin who was in a defensive position with his fists in front of his face, still and staring at her with fear in his eyes. She couldn't find it in her to move. She didn't want to hurt him. The crowd began to boo loudly and shout loudly, things like "Kill him!", "Kill her!" What could she do? She stayed frozen to the spot. King grunted and made his way to the ring. He stood in between them and he motioned for his thugs in the crowds to move. Sam looked around her as they shifted into different areas of the crowd and she braced herself for an attack. King laughed, "Don't worry about it fellas… We understand that your first time is frightening… but we will pop that cherry of yours today. If you don't fight… we will kill you both… understand?" Austin's breathing became audibly rapid and Sam couldn't help but notice her palms began to sweat. King's faced curled, "Don't believe me… Guys… let's give them a little incentive to fight." Sam looked as the thugs grabbed April and several of the other competitors in the match. April grit her teeth but didn't struggle. Sam was still out in the open and one wrong move could kill them both. Sam froze. King brought his hand up and pointed at the thug holding the struggling gentleman Sam had fought earlier. The brute smiled before he brought a dagger out from his pocket that he dragged across the man's neck until he began to bleed profusely, a look of agony on his face. It wasn't long before the man went limp and they dragged him out of the building. "See? You have to be like that…. Oh? Don't think we will kill a child?" King watched Austin tremble with an evil smile on his face as Austin trembled, staring at the pool of blood left behind by the man who just died. "Let's show you we are serious about killing you, huh?" He pointed at the man who held one of the sobbing teenage girls who began to kick and scream violently when he pulled a knife from his pocket. He struggled with her for a moment as she clawed at the hand around her neck before he became frustrated and drove the blade into her back. The girl let out a scream and eventually became as limp as the man who died before her.

Sam bit her lip and looked at King out of the corner of her eye. He must have caught her looking because he smiled and back away from the center of the ring. He signaled for them to begin and Austin didn't noticed. At this point, the color was completely gone from his entire body. Sam couldn't let them kill April and she couldn't let them kill Austin. Austin was still rooted to the spot, however, white as a sheet, staring at the ground and trembling. _He needs a push…,_ Sam bit her lip and steadied her breathing before getting into her boxing stance. She was willing to die for this kid. "Come on you little punk bitch! Fight me!" Austin's head snapped upwards, catching a glimpse of Sam quickly closing the distance between them, her fist connecting with his jaw before he could react. Austin reflexively reach up to his aching jaw, startled. He looked at Sam who bounced around on her toes, waiting for him to throw a punch. Austin's heart fell. This man reminded him of someone. He put his fists up and ran towards Sam. Sam leaned to the right, dodging Austin's jab to the left. She smiled. He had gotten faster. She leaned to the right again as he continued to jab at her left side. He tricked her, and uppercut her from her right side, his fist making contact with her cheek. Sam smiled as her cheek began to bleed, reflexively throwing a punch to his gut which he curled into to avoid its full impact. Austin was still refusing to become too aggressive and Sam didn't want that. He needed to hurt her.

"Is that all you got you baby?" Sam hit him in the shoulder, causing him to slow down his punch to her chest.

Austin grit his teeth and swung at her face, which she blocked and used the opportunity to punch him in the mouth. Austin spit the blood out which was coming from his now open gum, "Shut up, old man!"

"Did I hit a nerve you little pussy? Hit me! You slow ass punk! No wonder your dad wanted nothing to do with you!" Sam hit him again and again in the face and chest, frustrating Austin who hated to be caught off guard or to be called slow.

Above the cheers of the crowd and the encouragement for Sam to kill Austin, Austin could be heard yelling, "SHUT UP!" He let out an onslaught of punches. He lost his boxing stance and tackled Sam around her middle, knocking her to the floor and unleashing a barricade of punches on her face.

Sam felt the stinging of her eyebrow as it split open and could taste the metal in her mouth, but she frowned as Austin sat on her chest and continued to hit her in the face. He grabbed Austin's hand and put it on her neck, to which he withdrew his hand back quickly, startled. "I always told you… you're too eager… Keep me pinned here, fool!" Sam spat at him, grabbing his arm and using it to flip herself on top of him, keeping her hand on his neck as she slapped him in the face. "I've got you pinned, Austin! Now what are you going to do?!" Sam continued to hit him in the face, Austin's eyes growing wide with realization.

"T…Teach?" Austin managed to stutter in between punches from Sam.

"Shut up! What are you going to do?!" Sam went for another punch in his face before Austin grabbed the hand around his neck and reached for one of Sam's legs. He clawed at her fingers until she let go, surprised that he scratched her, and he lifted her knee, tossing her to the floor next to him. He rolled on top of her and squeezed her neck, strangling her, she clawed at his hands and kicked her legs to release herself but he used his weight to keep her from escaping. He hit her in the face again and again, allowing some slack in his grip for her to breathe but by then she was weak and no didn't want to fight him. She had determined he was strong and hopefully the others could save him before he could make the biggest mistake of his life. She smiled at him through one swollen eye and a busted lip. Her face bleeding from different places, she couldn't even tell where. Austin stopped his onslaught and looked at her. Throughout his difficult time growing up, Sam was there for four straight years. His father wasn't even there one. She was so much help to his mother when they needed and he finally learned how to defend himself at school when she came along. For a while things were better while she was around… and then she suddenly disappeared. Austin's eyes filled with tears and Sam looked up at him frightened. _No!_ Sam screamed in her mind.

Austin jumped off of her and kicked her, "Where were you?!"

Sam grabbed her side where he kicked her and got to her knees, "Austin… please… not here."

The entire their fight was going on, April watched anxiously. She looked at the scene unfolding before her. Their cover had to be blown by now. She looked around at the crowd, their eyes all focused on the ring. She had to figure out a way to get to Sam before things got worse. She watched as Austin began to verbally attack Sam, tears falling from his eyes. She looked back the thug who had released his grip on her shoulder and slipped away into the crowd to get to the center ring.

Austin circled Sam, "You! You left me! You left mom! You just called her and told her you weren't going to be back and this is where I find you?! What are you doing here?!"

Sam bit her lip, her cover was blown and she knew it as King began to enter the ring again, "I could ask you the same. But I came to get you… you fool! I thought I taught you better! Don't do this shit here!"

King stomped his way over to Sam, a wild look in his eyes, "No… no way." He picked Sam up by the arm and pulled out a knife, cutting her shirt down the middle, revealing Sam's taped down breasts. "You…," he looked at her face and a look of realization overcame him, "You little bitch! What the fuck are you doing here?!" He hit her in the face and threw her back on the floor, "You don't know what you just did…" He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Sam's head, Sam looking up at him out of the corner of her good eye.

Raphael was ready to jump into the glass as soon as he saw the gun pulled from the man's holster but he turned quickly, as four thugs came up behind him, each with knives, bats and crowbars. He grit his teeth and looked down. He pulled his sai from his belt and got into his stance, "You know what guys… kind of busy… not now…" A thug lunged himself at Raph. "Big mistake…"

"NO! Don't!' Austin cried.

King looked back at Austin who had not stopped letting the tears run down his face. King smiled a wicked smile and walked over to Austin, making Sam twitch, "NO! Don't! It's me you want! I fucking destroyed you in that alley! Don't you remember?!"

King grimaced and shot her a deadly look. He looked up at the balcony where his boss stood. His boss nodded and watched patiently, unfazed by what was developing beneath him. King smiled and grabbed Austin by the shoulders, pulling him closer to Sam and handing him the gun, "You pretty much won this, kid. Here… do the honors… put this bitch out of her misery."

Sam exhaled deeply and watched as King assisted Austin in pointing the gun to her head. Austin's eyes were once again filled with fear and dread. She couldn't let him not do it. It was very unlikely they would both escape alive anyway will all these savages around, may as well make it Austin to walk away. She smiled at Austin, "Its ok... Do it."

Austin trembled and lowered the gun, "I can't do it. I'm sorry. I disappointed you teach."

Sam looked at Austin's face as he let the tears fall from his eyes again, "Make me proud Austin… now do it… please… or else…"

King let out an exasperated sigh and looked up at his boss who pointed to Sam. King smiled and took the gun from Austin, "Ok… I guess that means you weren't really cut out for us then, kid. Despite what I want… it's what the boss wants so. I guess he wants you, you stupid whore…" Sam caught the terrified look on Austin's face when King pointed the gun at his head, a split second before he pulled the trigger and a loud bang vibrated throughout the building. Bright red droplets of liquid splattered her face.

Sam watched as Austin's body fell to the floor, fear still frozen in his eyes. Sam let out a high pitched scream as she crawled her way to Austin's body, scooping him into her arms, blood spilling over her chest and arms. "Austin… why?"

King laughed and nodded towards his boss who signaled he was leaving, "He wasn't cut out for this. My boss thinks… you were. Can't imagine my anger when he motioned that he wanted you but…. I guess… call us even sweetheart. Come get her guys. Hun wants her brought to him."

Sam sat there quietly, staring at Austin's frightened face. She closed his eyes and lay him down gently. "You…," She looked back at King, a burning hatred in her eyes, "I'll kill you!"

King laughed and pointed the gun in her face, backing away, "Careful…"

April jumped onto the ring and kicked the gun from his hand, causing the other thugs to quickly jump into the ring. April pulled out her radio, "Guys… new plan! Help!" April swung her leg behind her, kicking an oversized brute away from her. She ran over to Sam who had just beaten in the face of another and watched as the crowd around them began to stir and make their way to them.

Raphael looked down below at the scene unfolding. He grabbed the last Purple Dragon he was fighting and lifted him high in the air before he threw him at the glass top of the roof. He grabbed his radio and jumped down, "Girls need help! LET'S GO!"

Sam watched the body of a man fall from the roof onto the balcony. He was starting to get up but Raph followed after and jumped onto him, hitting him in the head and rendering him unconscious. The man she fought before her pulled out a gun and she grabbed his arm, turning into and pulling it downward, setting it off in his foot. She caught a glimpse of King making his way towards the back exit.

"No you don't…" Sam muttered, grabbing the man who was howling in pain from the gunshot and threw him off the ring into a bunch of crates. She ran past April who managed to take down another. Leo, Mike and Casey managed to make their way into the building, they didn't have a chance to stop her as she ran out after King. They were immediately flooded by goons. Raph managed to pull away the knife of a thug with his sai and hit him in the face with the blunt end of it, he caught Sam running out of the building and ran after her. "WAIT! SAM!"

Sam gave him a serious look and ran away from him.

To be continued….


End file.
